April 19, 2023

With great sorrow and a profound sense of loss, we have learned of the passing of Ross Stone.

With more than 45 years of experience in the field, Ross was a pillar and a model for many of us. Over his long professional life he impacted industry, consulting, and research in antennas, propagation, and related technologies. He founded the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine and served it as Editor-in-Chief for over 30 years.

A generous volunteer, he was very active in several scientific and technical societies, and for over 20 years he was the Editor of the Radio Science Bulletin of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). In URSI he served as the Assistant Secretary General - GASS and Publications, along with holding other prestigious positions such as Chief Scientist of McDonnell Technologies, Research Advisor of IRT Corp., and Executive Director of an international scholarship fund in telecommunications. Moreover, for more than 45 years he led his own consulting firm.

Ross was also very sensitive to the needs of young scientists and was committed to serve and educate the next generation of students and engineers, and was always happy to help them and share his words of wisdom. In this light he held a position as an Adjunct Full Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

He was a Fellow of the IEEE, URSI, and the Electromagnetics Academy, and a Life Member of the IEEE AP-S AdCom. Ross also received several other prestigious recognitions including the URSI President’s Award, the EurAAP Antenna Award, the AP-S Outstanding Service Award, and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal.

Ross spent his life traveling all over the world for conferences and meetings. Unfortunately, a few years ago his mobility became limited, but this did not prevent him from continuing to travel. In the last two years Ross’ health substantially worsened, but nonetheless his commitment to IEEE AP-S and other societies was always strong until his last days. His last AP-S AdCom meeting was on February 25, 2023. The meeting was in Dubai in a time zone prohibitive for anybody in California. Despite this and his health conditions, he participated in the meeting from midnight to nine in the morning, interacting with all the meeting members and giving, as always, sage advice.

Ross passed away on March 29, 2023. Although it is hard to express how much we will miss him, the colleagues of the Society would like to remember the important role he had in our antennas and propagation community.

 

Stefano Maci
IEEE AP-S President