John E. Gaustad

Northampton, MA - John Eldon Gaustad died in Northampton, Massachusetts, on October 18, 2024, due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 86 years old.

John was born on May 23, 1938, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the youngest of five children of Leonard Nicholas Gaustad and Anne Hewitt Gaustad. He graduated as valedictorian of Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis in 1955, received an A.B. cum laude from Harvard College in 1959 with a concentration in Astronomy, and earned a Ph.D. in Astronomy at Princeton University in 1962.

After two post-doctoral years-one at Princeton and another at the California Institute of Technology-John surprised friends and colleagues by beginning his teaching career as a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. This choice was inspired by the idealism of John F. Kennedy and the idea of the Peace Corps, and was supported by John's wish for some adventure before continuing his climb up the academic ladder. Adventure there was: the third year of his service at the university saw a military coup topple a civilian government.

Reentry into an academic career in the U.S. was relatively easy, because the 1957 launch of Sputnik-which John had seen from the roof of the Harvard observatory on the first night it was visible over the United States-generated a spike in demand for astronomy professors and researchers. John spent fifteen years (1967–1982) at the University of California, Berkeley, rising to full professor and serving as chair of the Department of Astronomy. He and his research team of graduate students and postdocs published many papers in the then-new field of observational infrared astronomy, and John co-authored the textbook Astronomy: The Cosmic Perspective. John took considerable satisfaction in his teaching, particularly in the development of new courses and methods of teaching science to non-majors.

John met Gail Manwell Reed and her two daughters, Maya and Carma, in Berkeley in 1974; the couple married in 1980. In 1982, John took a professorship at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He remained there for the rest of his academic career, retiring in 2000. During this period, he taught courses and seminars in both astronomy and physics, and sought research projects that were appropriate for undergraduate students.

John's interest in other countries led him and Gail to open their Swarthmore home during college holidays to international students, several of whom became lifelong friends. He also developed close friendships with others whom he met in travels abroad. In 2002, John and Gail moved to Northampton to care for Gail's nonagenarian father, living in the house in which Gail grew up.

John always loved music, learning to play the piano at age seven and the organ while in high school. He enjoyed singing and joined local choral groups wherever he lived. He had a fascination with words and their origins, and studied several languages. After retiring, he participated in the Five College Learning in Retirement program and, as a member of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, served in several capacities, including Treasurer.

John is survived by Gail, Maya (husband Patrick), Carma (husband Jiri), five grandchildren (Anthony, Siobhán, Maria, Sebastian, Veronika), and several nieces and nephews. Contributions in John's memory may be made to the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence (220 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060) or to the John and Gail Gaustad Scholarship Fund at Swarthmore College (500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081). A Memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence on Sunday, November 24, at 2 p.m.; an online option will be available.