Richard H. Stanley died Nov. 17, 2017, at University Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa. He was an alum of the Iowa State University Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and recipient of the Iowa State College of Engineering Anson Marston medal and namesake of the Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering. The Stanley Chair was established to encourage the commitment to the concepts and practice of interactive interdisciplinary work in the College of Engineering.
Stanley was born on Oct. 20, 1932, in Muscatine, Iowa, to Maxwell and Betty Stanley. He married Mary Jo Kennedy on Dec. 20, 1953, at the First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine.
Stanley earned mechanical and electrical engineering undergraduate degrees at Iowa State University and a graduate degree from the University of Iowa. In 1956, he helped create the Stanley Foundation with his father, mother and siblings as an organization focused on fostering world peace with freedom and justice.
According to the Muscatine Journal, President and CEO of Stanley Foundation Keith Porter said Stanley worked to keep the foundation’s original values alive as he took over as president and chairman of the board after his father’s death.
“‘The one constant has been this belief that global problems can’t be solved by any one nation working by itself,” Porter said. “Max and Dick really believed we had to find ways for countries to work together, trust each other and see there’s really no other way to address those issues.’”
Stanley was chair of Stanley Consultants, which provides engineering, environmental and construction services worldwide. He also served as vice chair of the board of HON Industries, Inc., a Fortune 1000 manufacturer and marketer of office furniture and hearth products, and a Director of Dover Resources, Inc., a subsidiary of the Dover Corporation and a diversified manufacturer of industrial products.
While Stanley contributed a great deal on the global scale, he helped bring people together within his local community, Muscatine.
The Muscatine Journal reports, “Judi Holdorf, executive director of the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, said Stanley’s work and the Stanley Foundation encouraged her to move to Muscatine.
‘I was very impressed that Muscatine would have a foundation for international peace,’ she said.
Stanley, she said, contributed his money, time and expertise to the Community Foundation. For example, he was an early contributor to the Cares and Shares Endowment, which was formed after the 2007 tornado and 2008 flood that hit the area, to help the community quickly respond to emergencies.”
Stanley’s commitment to helping others did not go unnoticed. He has been awarded the Hoover Medal by the Hoover Medal Board of Award; the Distinguished Award of Merit from the American Council of Engineering Companies; the Herbert Hoover Centennial Award from the Iowa Engineering Society; and has been inducted into the University of Iowa College of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy.
He served on a number of Iowa State University boards and committees, including the ISU Alumni Association Board of Directors and the College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Council, and has sponsored a number of ISU scholarship programs.
Stanley is survived by his wife, sister, two children and eight grandchildren.
To read more about the impact Stanley had on the Muscatine community and greater world peace, read here.