R. Stockton Gaines *69

Stockton Gaines, a founder of Acorn Technologies Inc., died Oct. 9, 2015, of cancer, at the age of 81.

Gaines graduated from the Naval Academy in 1956 and served as an officer in the Navy. In 1969, he earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Princeton and then worked for the Institute for Defense Analyses in Princeton. In 1974, he joined the Rand Corp., where in 1977 he co-designed a new email system, “MH,” based on the UNIX operating system.

Later, at the University of Southern California, he directed an innovative research program at the Information Sciences Institute. Gaines also consulted with such companies as IBM, Honeywell, Unisys, Control Data, and Northrup, as well as venture-capital firms.

In 1998, with three colleagues, he founded Acorn Technologies, an intellectual-property research-and-development company focused on the semiconductor and telecom industry.

Descended from the Stockton family of Princeton, Richard Stockton Gaines was named for Richard Stockton, a member of Princeton’s first graduating class in 1748 and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His late father, T. Stockton Gaines 1923, and numerous other relatives have been Princeton alumni.

Gaines is survived by Lynn, his wife of 56 years; a son; and two grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.