David Schwartzman

10/31/1943 - 07/01/2025

David Schwartzman passed away at the age of 81 on Tuesday July 1, 2025 in Washington, DC following months of cancer and serious illness.

David was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 31, 1943, a date that, as he liked to remind friends and family, was exactly nine months after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The implication - that his father Max and mother Miriam conceived David in celebration of the Soviet Union's victory over the Nazis - meant that from even from his embryonic beginnings, David was cosmically tied to the victory of socialism over fascism.

He grew up among a thriving community of largely leftist working-class Jews in Brooklyn. He displayed an early passion and curiosity for science and the natural world that his family encouraged. He attended Stuyvesant High School, after which he completed his undegraduate studies at the City College of New York (B.S., Chemistry and Biology, 1964). He then moved to Providence, Rhode Island and obtained his Masters and then his Ph.D at Brown University (M.S., 1966 & Ph.D., 1971, both in Geochemistry). In 1973, David moved to Washington, DC and began teaching at Howard University. After 39 years as a professor, including time as Department head, he retired in 2012 as Professor Emeritus.

David was a long-time member of the DC Statehood Green Party, with which he ran for citywide office three times, and he was a tireless activist for racial and economic justice and for DC statehood. He contributed to countless other organizations and campaigns, from the Fair Budget Coalition to One DC to DC Metro Science for the People. Among his biggest goals, tax increases on the wealthy to fund essential services like childcare and affordable housing, was partially achieved with legislation that the DC City Council passed last year. Indeed, his lifelong devotion to speaking out against racial and economic injustice remained evident until the very end of his life: he provided testimony at DC City Council one final time less than two weeks before he died. David's committed presence at demonstrations and events and his mentorship of younger activists will be sorely missed.

He was an extensively published author, with two books, Life, Temperature, and the Earth and The Earth is Not for Sale (co-authored with his son, Peter), and a remarkable output of articles, book reviews, book chapters and online essays. He was still working on his final book, Solar Communism, at the time of his passing. David's scientific work across multiple fields, including Geochemistry and Climate Science, was recognized around the world - he was an invited speaker or presenter at more than fifty international academic conferences, and he was selected for several prestigious professional affiliations.

David loved daily walks in Rock Creek Park, watching tennis, researching and discussing UFO's and Cryptozoology, (particularly Bigfoot), and global travel. With his wife Joanne, he travelled extensively around Europe, and he especially enjoyed walking the long-distance footpaths of England and spending time at Joanne's cottage in North Devon in England.

David leaves behind his wife Joanne; sons Peter and Sam; Sam's mother, Emilie; his grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and a home in DC where he lived for almost fifty years. His loved ones are planning a memorial and Celebration of his Life on Saturday, August 2 at the Josephine Butler Center in DC.