A youthful fascination with rocks found while playing in an abandoned quarry set the course of Ron’s career. First, Watchung Mountain, near his Hawthorne, N.J., home, set him on his way. After Hawthorne High School, where he was class president for four years, Ron came to Princeton keen to major in geology and geochemistry. He also found time to pursue freshman and IAA athletics and joined Campus Club.

After graduation, Ron married his high school sweetheart, Ruth, and earned a master’s degree at Rice University in 1962 and a Ph.D. at Penn State in 1966, both in geochemistry. After two years in the Army, resigning in 1968 as captain, Ron joined Norton Corp., a ceramic and abrasive manufacturer, as director of research and development. He served more than 20 years with Norton, developing programs to facilitate transfer of technology from government laboratories to public corporations. In 1989, he moved to Los Alamos National Laboratory to promote these efforts more broadly. Ron and Ruth transplanted back to New England in 2000, when he retired from Los Alamos.

A dedicated church and civic leader, Ron also sang and golfed avidly and in retirement added writing and lecturing on European historical subjects to his pursuits. He died May 9, 2022, and was buried in full ’60 Reunions uniform. Ron is survived by Ruth, daughter Jennine, two grandchildren, and son Jim.

Undergraduate Class of 1960