THOMAS STOEL Jr.

1941 - 2020

STOEL Thomas Burrowes Stoel, Jr. Died on July 17, 2020 at the age of 79. Tom was born in Portland, Oregon on June 18, 1941 to Thomas Burrowes Stoel and Caroline Phillips Stoel. Tom was followed by two sisters, Carol Stoel-Gammon and Polly Stoel, and one brother, Peter Stoel, all of whom survive him. Tom grew up loving to read and was also an avid outdoorsman. Tom graduated from Lincoln High School in 1958 and then attended Princeton University where he was a member of the Ski Team and the Terrace Club. He graduated, cum laude, with a B.A. in mathematics, and was selected to the Society of Sigma Xi. Tom then attended the Harvard Law School, graduating fourth in his class and magna cum laude in 1965, and serving as the Supreme Court Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review. More importantly, it was during his time at Harvard Law that Tom met the love of his life, Carol Frank. They were married in September 1966 and stayed devoted to one another until this day. Tom received a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Balliol College, Oxford from 1965 to 1967 when he received his D.Phil in law. Carol lived with him for one wonderful year in England, 1966-67. Returning to the United States, Tom served as a law clerk for two years, 1967-69, to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan. Tom then served briefly in the Nixon Administration, working as a Staff Attorney for the President's Cabinet Task Force on Oil Import Controls, as a Deputy Director of the U.S. Cabinet Committee on Education, and as the Acting Executive Assistant for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget George Schultz. In 1973, Tom joined forces with other distinguished attorneys to found the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Tom worked at NRDC for nearly two decades, serving as its Director for International Programs and leading its efforts to repair the ozone layer and to combat climate change. Subsequently, Tom worked as an environmental policy consultant for the United Nations and other organizations. His final article, "The Case for a Federal Statute Authorizing Compensation for Legally Imposed Segregation," was published in the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal in the summer of 2020. Tom is survived by his wife, Carol F. Stoel, his daughter Elizabeth Stoel and her husband Christopher Bynum, his son Jonathan Stoel and his wife Emily Lindow, and four grandchildren (Sophie Bynum, Jackson Stoel, Stella Bynum, and Grant Stoel) to whom he was deeply devoted. A private memorial will be held at a later date. The family requests that memorial contributions be made in memory of Tom to the Natural Resources Defense Council or Human Rights Watch, Inc.A private memorial will be held at a later date. The family requests that memorial contributions be made in memory of Tom to the Natural Resources Defense Council or Human Rights Watch, Inc.