John M. Stewart
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with deep sorrow the death May 19, 2011 of Life Trustee and Honorary Member, John M. Stewart.
John and his wife Eliot became WHOI Associates in 1995. John served as a Trustee from 1997 to 2004, was elected an Honorary Trustee (now known as Life Trustee) in 2004, and also served as a Member of the Corporation from 1995 to 2004 before election as an Honorary Member.
Through the years he served on numerous committees, including the Development Committee, Coastal Ocean Institute Committee, and the Committee on the Board. He also led the Institution’s board of trustees and corporation through a complex process of governance review and reform as chairman of the Governance Committee from 2007 to 2009. John had been a participant in the WHOI Science Partnership Program since 1995.
John M. Stewart was born March 18, 1932. He earned his BS from Yale University and his MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. John retired as a Director of McKinsey & Company, Inc., where he worked on the management of R&D in aerospace and other technical industries.
Prior to joining McKinsey & Co., John worked as a Missile System Manager for TRW, and he served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Government service included membership on the Defense Science Board; Chair of a study of U.S. shipbuilding and naval architecture for the Marine Board of the National Research Council; and Executive Director of the National Commission on Productivity. John served as a Trustee of New York University Langone Medical Center, and he had served on the visiting committees of two medical schools. In addition, he was a member of the Yale University Council and the National Council on Economic Education.
John’s interests included flying and sailing, and he was affiliated with several clubs dedicated to both activities.
John is survived by his wife, Eliot (Brady) Highet Stewart; two daughters: Diane E. Stewart; and Sandra “Sandi” L. Epstein; and two stepchildren: Eliot (Highet) Patty; and Ian D. Highet. John’s brother-in-law, Reuben F. Richards, is a WHOI Life Trustee and Honorary Member.
Services will be held at the Yale Club in New York on Sunday, June 19 at 4:30 p.m., reception following. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: John Stewart Memorial Fund, Amyloid Research Program, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord St., Boston, MA 02188 or Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Fenno House, MS#40A, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
