As most of you know, Tom Stix, our mentor, friend, and long time
director of graduate studies in Princeton University's Program in Plasma
Physics, died April 16. He had a creative and insightful career in
plasma physics. Many of us benefited greatly from his encouragement at
early stages of our careers, and from his many years of teaching and building
up the Program in Plasma Physics. This program trained 160 graduate
students by the time of his retirement. In case you haven't seen
them, obituaries for Tom Stix in the New York Times (written by a fellow
graduate of our program), in the Daily Princetonian, and in the University's
press release can be seen at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/18/obituaries/18STIX.htmlSeveral alumni have suggested the establishment of a memorial fund in Tom's honor, something that would reflect his personal concern for and encouragement of so many graduate students, and his commitment to graduate student education through the plasma physics program he helped build.
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/Content/2001/04/23/news/1095.shtml
http://www.pppl.gov/news/pages/stix.html
We are writing to you, as alumni of the Princeton Program in Plasma Physics and friends of Tom Stix, to ask you to join us in contributing to the Stix Memorial Fund. The tragedy of September 11 and its aftermath remind us that there are many worthwhile charities in the world. But in the spirit of continuing on with other good causes also, we have decided to go forward with the establishment of the Stix Memorial Fund, the planning of which was done this summer.
We hope to be able to raise enough money to endow in perpetuity an annual grant of at least $2000 to enhance graduate student education and life. This will require a fund of at least $50,000. A possible use for this might be as a research or conference travel fund, awarded annually to an outstanding student in plasma physics or related fields. This could be particularly useful for a student in the early stages of their graduate education. Each year, students might propose different international conferences or laboratories to visit (for example, a student might go to the Weizmann Institute, where Stix himself spent productive sabbaticals). Another option might be to fund an invited lecture series. Once we know exactly how much money has been given, a final decision of how to use the fund would be made by a representative of the Stix family and Prof. Nat Fisch (director of graduate studies in plasma physics), in consultation with the University.
Checks should be made payable to Princeton University with the annotation "Stix Memorial Fund" in the memo line, and mailed to:
Prof. Thomas H. Stix Memorial FundYou can inquire about employer matching programs, as contributions to the memorial fund are tax deductible and would often qualify for matching funds. The University will officially acknowledge each gift made to the memorial fund. In addition, we will send along a personal thank-you to each donor for participation in this special effort, although we won't know the amounts of individual contributions. Donations will be accepted until the end of March 2002, at which time we will provide you with a final report. Please feel free to contact Greg Hammett or one of the other co-signers of this letter if you have further questions.
c/o Recording Secretary
Gift Records Unit
P.O. Box 5357
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08543-5357
We hope this will be a fitting token of our regard for Tom Stix and
his professional and personal contributions, and an encouragement and example
to future generations of graduate students. We look forward to your
most generous support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gregory W. Hammett *86, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(hammett@princeton.edu 609-243-2495)
Prof. Alfred Y.-F. Wong *62, University of California, Los Angeles
Prof. Herbert L. Berk *64, University of Texas
Prof. Charles F. Kennel *64, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
UCSD
Dr. William L. Kruer *69, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Dr. Masayuki Ono *78, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Prof. Howard M. Milchberg *84, University of Maryland
Dr. Kevin Ilcisin *91, Technical Visions Inc., Oregon
Dr. Sherrie A. Preische *95, Office of Congressman Rush Holt