Harold Josef Stolberg

1940 - 08

Harold Josef Stolberg of Arlington, Virginia passed away on March 25, 2024 from viral pneumonia. He was 83 years old.
Harold was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 4, 1940, to Harry Stolberg from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Josefina Stolberg Acosta from Ceiba, Puerto Rico. Harold was the eldest of four children and excelled at math and science from an early age. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 1962, and then left Puerto Rico to earn a PhD in mathematics from Cornell University in 1969. Harold treasured his time at Cornell, where he made lifelong friendships, experienced snow for the first time, and tasted the incomparable vanilla ice cream at Purity Ice Cream (all other ice creams would forevermore be found wanting).
While Harold was an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon, he uncharacteristically enrolled in a recorder class and met his wife, Kathie. Their 52-year marriage began on a spring day in Frick Park, under a tulip poplar tree, with recorders serenading them through a meadow.
Harold returned to the University of Puerto Rico as the chairman of the math department in 1971. Over his nine-year tenure he built up the mathematics program by recruiting and hiring talented professors. He also taught math courses, co-authored a textbook, and created and co-hosted a math and science public television program for college students. His favorite episode was visiting the radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and explaining how it worked and how it was built.
Harold and Kathie moved to Arlington in 1980, where Harold worked for 32 years as a Program Manager at the National Science Foundation. He visited almost all of the countries in Latin America and oversaw the scientific projects that NSF funded. He cherished his job promoting scientific research in the Americas.
Harold was a wonderful husband and devoted father to his two daughters. He adored his two granddaughters. He was passionate about sharing his love for math and science, jogging, baking bread, and citrus fruits as a panacea for all of life's ailments. He judged science fairs in Northern Virginia for over 30 years, and was delighted by young people who showed an interest in science or math. He was beloved for his patience, sense of humor, intellectual curiosity, and kindness.
Harold is survived by his wife, Katherine Stolberg (nee Kemper); daughters, Lisa Peck and Julia Kalman; son-in-law, Andrew Kalman; granddaughters, Marie and Meadow Peck; and brother, Robert Stolberg.
A celebration of life will be held for Harold at a future date. Contributions may be made to the American Mathematical Society (AMS).