William A. Stinger ’67

Bill died March 29, 2019. He had lived in Rancho Palos Verde and the greater Los Angeles area since graduation.

Bill came to Princeton from Neenah, Wis., where he graduated from Neenah High School as senior class vice president and a member of Student Council and the debate team.

At Princeton he majored in mechanical and aerospace engineering. He did independent work senior year for the department at Princeton’s Guggenheim Labs researching acoustic liner materials for rocket combustion chambers. He was a member of AIAA and Cloister Inn, and roomed senior year at 433 1903 Hall.

Bill’s interest in rocketry, material science, and space technology carried over into his career. After graduation he began work with the Aerospace Corp. of El Segundo, beginning as a technical specialist at the height of the American space age made possible by technological advances in rocket propulsion. He spent his entire career in the Los Angeles aerospace industry.

Our particular generation was greatly defined by a unique period of firsts in human history: Earth orbit by man; walking on the moon; solar system exploration; space stations; and communication satellites connecting our now global society. It was Bill Stinger and his aerospace-engineering colleagues who created that history. We mourn the loss of Bill and that marvelous era.