Paul A. Stokstad
Paul Allan Stokstad died peacefully in his sleep on July 8 in Auburn, California. He had been diagnosed the previous year with Lewy body dementia. He is survived by his wife Shelley, his brother Robert (also a physicist), and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service took place November 2, 2024.
As a Dartmouth undergraduate, Paul majored in physics and was a member of Alpha Chi Alpha. Afterward he stayed in Hanover to complete two degrees in Engineering at Thayer School, Bachelor's (1967) and Master's (1968). Later he served Dartmouth and Thayer through several fund-raising committees and on the Executive Committee of the Dartmouth Society of Engineers.
Paul was a wonderful person, always pursuing things meaningful to him. His fascination with science led him to create a company vital to STEM education. His satisfaction came from helping others less fortunate. His perspective was nurtured by the spiritual and a deep respect for others. His judgment was seasoned by balance and fairness.
Paul was born in Pearl River, New York on March 25,1944, where his father was a biochemist at Lederle Labs. Later the family moved to Berkeley, California, where his mother Edith had grown up and his father Robert taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Paul started his company, PASCO scientific, while he was still a Dartmouth undergraduate, making the most of Dartmouth's educational opportunities and facilities like the Hopkins Center metal and wood shops. He was particularly motivated by the demonstration-filled lectures of Dartmouth Professor Francis Sears, a prolific author of physics textbooks who encouraged Paul's interest in physics experimentation. PASCO grew to become the dominant supplier of physics lab instrumentation for high school and college education. At the company's 60th year anniversary its catalog featured hundreds of products across the spectrum of physics instrumentation in a 350-page catalog. PASCO equipment can now be found in over 130 countries.
In high school, Paul had won first place in a science fair project by building a Millikan oil drop apparatus to measure the charge of an electron. The device is named after Robert Millikan, who first made the measurement in 1909 and won the 1923 Nobel Prize in physics for that feat. Paul recalled that at the science fair "One of the judges came by and said, 'young man, I'll pay you to build one (for me). I can see the drops more easily here than I can on a commercial unit.' That put the spark in my mind." He started PASCO in 1964 — our sophomore year — working on instrument design when he could at Dartmouth, and subsequently building and selling Millikan oil drop apparatuses from his parents' garage in Lafayette, California.
While working on his Master's at Thayer, Paul won a prize for his design of a Vibrating Reed Electrometer. PASCO went on to also manufacture this device, which demonstrates principles of electrostatics. With machining and production help from his father and clerical help from his mother, PASCO was growing, so the company moved to factory space in San Leandro in 1970, and later to Roseville now with nearly 200 employees. Paul remained its president until 2017.
Paul was an avid sailor with the San Francisco Bay his sailing playground for 50 years. He made a trip to Hawaii with several friends, with only a short wave radio to communicate with family and others. At one point the radio made a pop as a component was fried, disabling the radio. Paul took it apart to analyze the radio's circuitry, figured out a workaround, and got it running again, re-establishing communication from the middle of the ocean.
Paul was also active in the local business community, participating in the Roseville Chamber of Commerce, fund raising for Placer County's United Way campaigns, and eventually establishing the PASCO foundation to serve various not-for-profits in Placer County.
In 1996, he married Shelley Burdick. The couple took numerous active roles at the Roseville Seventh-day Adventist Church, including several mission trips to Latin America and Africa helping to build schools. Paul served on the board of Maranatha Volunteers International, which supports several causes in the developing world, such as Community Initiatives for Rural Development (CIFORD) in Kenya which teaches job skills to teenage mothers.
Paul had a long association with Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, beginning in 1980 when he took a sabbatical from PASCO and enrolled in the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews. This new educational experience had a profound influence on him, creating a guiding principle for his life. In 2000 he received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Andrews, having served on the institution's board of trustees for more than 30 years.
— Gary Rubloff '66
Paul Stokstad passed away July 8, 2024. A member of AAPT since 1965, Paul joined soon after founding PASCO Scientific in 1964 and while he was working on his Bachelor's Degree in Physics at Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering where he also earned a BA and MA in Engineering.
PASCO got its start as a science fair project. Since the introduction of their first product, the Millikan Oil Drop Apparatus, the company started in his college dorm room, expanded into the family’s garage, and ultimately grew into the headquarters in Roseville, California. Today PASCO is the global leader in developing technology-based solutions for hands-on science, serving educators and students in more than 100 countries around the world.
Under the leadership of Paul and his wife, Shelley, PASCO has been a strong supporter of AAPT for decades, advertising in the journals and meeting guides, exhibiting at meetings, and sponsoring workshops and events at the winter and summer meetings, including the annual Apparatus Competition.
An active member of Roseville Church, he served as head elder, Sabbath School teacher, chair of the finance committee, Pathfinder leader, Gathering Inn coordinator, and chair of the Worthy Student Fund.
— American Association of Physics Teachers