Stuart G. Hibben ’48

Stu died July 19, 2024, in Swarthmore, Pa., of natural causes.

Born in Montclair, N.J., Stu graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and entered Princeton in 1944. He was the sixth Hibben to do so, in a line dating back to Princeton president John Grier Hibben 1882. After freshman year, Stu enlisted in the Navy, where he trained as a radar technician. Following his discharge, he returned to Princeton, joined Prospect Club, and graduated in 1949 with a degree in electrical engineering.

Stu joined Westinghouse Co.’s air arm division in 1950 and spent 11 years designing and supervising tests of aircraft radar systems. In 1962, he joined the Library of Congress as an analyst, analyzing Russian technical literature for the Defense Department.

In 1990, he was appointed to head the Library of Congress’ Cold Regions bibliography project. He was editor of the Antarctic Bibliography and supervised the modernization of the 40-year-old Cold Regions archive into an online database documenting all polar research. When he retired in 1996, Stu received the Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service. He was a member of the Institution for Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Institute of Environmental Sciences, and the Polar Libraries Colloquy.

After his retirement, Stu joined his wife, Barbara, a foreign service officer, in posts in Cairo, Marseille, New Delhi, and elsewhere. He also wrote a biography of Paxton Hibben, Class of 1903.

Stu’s first marriage ended in divorce. In 1994, he married Barbara Grupe, who survives him, as do his sons Kent, Christopher, and Mark; three stepdaughters; and 10 grandchildren.