Posted on: Friday, August 17, 2001

Robert E. Stevenson, consultant to astronauts, dead at 80

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Robert E. Stevenson, noted oceanographer and World War II veteran, died Aug. 12 on Kaua'i. He was 80.

Stevenson was born on Jan. 15, 1921 in Fullerton, Calif. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II and navigated a B-17 that flew two missions on D-Day.

Since the NASA Gemini days in the 1960s, Stevenson served as an oceanographer consultant to the astronauts. Australian oceanographer Paul Scully-Power called Stevenson the "Father of Space Oceanography."

"He instructed each and every one of (the astronauts) in the greatest of all endeavors — looking at mother Earth and understanding what they saw, and recording that which was new," Scully-Power said.

From 1970 to 1988, Stevenson served as director of the Office of Naval Research at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. He was honored with many awards, including the Meritorious Civilian Service award from the federal government.

In 1989, Stevenson was appointed secretary-general of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans.

Stevenson is survived by his wife, Jeani; sons, Robert K. and Michael; and one granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held tomorrow at noon at the Church of the Pacific, 4520 Kapa Ka Road, Princeville.