Douglas Mattern

Douglas Mattern A longtime resident of Palo Alto, passed away July 20 after a long illness. He was 78 and is survived by his beloved wife, Noemi. After serving 4 years in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Mattern attended San Jose City College, San Jose State University, and Stanford University, where he worked, audited classes, and learned his profession as an engineer in material science. He became an expert in Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy. In 1980, he was hired by Data General Corporation and later by Apple Computer to design, build and manage fully staffed Failure Analysis Labs that were considered by many engineers as the best in Silicon Valley. He retired in the year 2000. His hobbies included mountain hiking/climbing, sports, and astronomy/cosmology. Mr. Mattern was known for scores of letters published in The Palo Alto Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and The New York Times. In addition, he had 200 articles published in magazines on peace-related issues. In 1975, he co-founded and became President of the Association of World Citizens (AWC). AWC organized major peace conferences in San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York City, and Taipei, becoming an international peace organization gaining official NGO (Non-Government Organization) status with the United Nations. In the 1980s Mr. Mattern was invited to be a speaker for the U.S. delegation on Citizen Diplomacy trips to the Soviet Union. On these and other trips, there were many interesting stories, most of which are detailed in his book, Looking for Square Two. Mr. Mattern received several awards, including the Albert Einstein Peace Award from the International Association of Educators for World Peace, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for World Peace from the Federation of World Peace and Love. Truly a learned, compassionate citizen, not only of his community but of the world, he leaves an indelible mark on those who were privileged to know and share his life.