Thomas C. Hanks ’66

 Tom died at home in Palo Alto, Calif., March 5, 2024, following a stroke earlier that day.

Tom followed his brother Jim ’64 and preceded his brother John ’69 and daughter Julia ’01 to Princeton, after graduating with high honors from the Landon School in Bethesda, Md., where he was captain of the football and baseball teams and won the Headmaster’s Award.

At Princeton, he majored in geological engineering, ate at Cottage Club, and played rugby and soccer. After graduation he earned his Ph.D. in geophysics with special emphasis in seismology from Caltech.

Tom spent his entire career with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., achieving international prominence in his field. In 1979, he and colleague Hiroo Kanamori developed the “moment-magnitude scale,” the earthquake-rating system that supplanted the Richter scale as the standard in the field. Tom’s impressive professional achievements were highlighted in a Jan. 25, 2006, PAW profile.

Tom was predeceased by his wife of 52 years, Margaret Taylor Hanks. He is survived by daughters Julia ’01 and Molly; granddaughters Jane and Mae; and brothers Jim and John. The class extends its heartfelt condolences to them all.