Our colleague and good friend Steve Schneider, the Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford, died on July 19, 2010, while traveling from a meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, to London. Steve is survived by his wife, Woods Institute Senior Fellow Terry Root, and his children, Adam and Rebecca.
Steve was not only a man of formidable intellectual depth and breadth, but also a committed and compassionate advisor, mentor, teacher and friend. While at Stanford, where he joined the faculty in Biology in 1992, he continued his life's work of educating the world about the dangers of anthropogenically induced changes to our global climate and promoting alternative and sustainable ways of providing clean energy for the world's citizens. Steve was never one to walk away from a challenge, be it hostile and provocative opponents to his viewpoints, or the mantle cell lymphoma that he took head-on and beat handsomely.
We fondly remember Steve for his unbounded and infectious enthusiasm, his incredible commitment to everything he undertook, and making his time and his calendar seemingly available to the entire planet. We also remember him as one of the passionate leaders and architects of our interdisciplinary research and teaching programs in the environment at Stanford. Steve took leadership roles in the formation of our educational programs - Earth Systems, the Goldman Honors Program, and the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources for which he served as the founding co-director. He helped form the Center for Environmental Science and Policy, which he co-directed for some years, and he was a founding member of the Woods Institute for the Environment.
To honor his great legacy and his commitment to educating the next generation of environmental leaders and stewards, Stanford University has established the Stephen Schneider Memorial Fund.
