In Memoriam: Irvin Glassman, Stanley J. Stein, Robert Millar Maxwell

Published Jan. 31, 2020

Photo: Robert Matthews, Office of Communications

IRVIN GLASSMAN, professor emeritus of mechanical and aerospace engineering, died Dec. 14 in Princeton. He was 96. He joined the faculty in 1950 and retired in 1999. Known as the “Grand Old Man of Combustion,” Glassman was a leading authority on combustion and propulsion. He was a founder of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and the journal Combustion Science and Technology, and he wrote the standard textbook Combustion. He also was an adviser to NASA and other agencies and corporations.

Princeton Department of History

STANLEY J. STEIN, professor emeritus of history, died Dec. 19. He was 99. He joined the faculty in 1953 and retired in 1989. Stein, the first director of the Program in Latin American Studies, wrote extensively on Latin American economic and social history and the legacies of colonialism and slavery. He and his wife, Barbara Stein, wrote The Colonial Heritage of Latin America.

Photo: Michael Pirrocco

ROBERT MILLAR MAXWELL, professor emeritus of architecture, died Jan. 2 in France. He was 97. Maxwell served as dean of the School of Architecture from 1982 to 1989 and retired in 1993. He wrote more than a dozen books, including The Time of My Life in Architecture.

Published in the February 2020 Issue

In Memoriam

1 Response

Jim DiOrio ’73

4 Years Ago

Remembering Stanley Stein

I was saddened to see the story about Professor Stanley Stein’s passing (In Memoriam, Feb. 12). Professor Stein will always have a special place in my Princeton experience. As an undergrad I took his course on Latin America and got to know him personally a bit. We were both native New Yorkers and very proud of our roots.

After Princeton, I continued my study of history at Stony Brook. During one of our seminars we were tasked with discussing Stein’s definitive work, The Colonial Heritage of Latin America. Most of my classmates had a different interpretation of the work than I had. I basically told the class that I disagreed and would prove that my position was correct. I immediately wrote a letter to Stein at Princeton explaining my position. After 10 days, I still hadn’t received a reply and dreaded going to that seminar. Another week went by and I received an air-mail letter from Brazil. Evidently, he was on sabbatical, and it took a while for the letter to get to him. Luckily, he supported my position. I then marched into the seminar armed with his letter. I read it out loud and experienced one of the highlights of my academic career.

Professor Stein was a very dedicated teacher. He was probably busy doing research in Brazil, but not too busy for a former student. I have told that story over the years many times when I’m asked about the caliber of professors at Princeton.