Robert H. Stevens
Robert H. Stevens, a retired employee of MIT's Instrumentation Lab and the Francis Bitter Magnet Lab, died July 3 at Milton Hospital after suffering a stroke. He was 90.
Stevens began a 25-year career at MIT in 1957, when he first started work for the Instrumentation Lab at MIT, which was working on guidance gyroscopes for the Polaris submarine missile program and space programs.
In the 1970s, he worked with Professor Gene Simmons in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary -Sciences as an administrator and technician on geological projects involving plate tectonics and seafloor spreading.
Stevens worked for the Magnet Lab, now known as the Francis Bitter Magnet Lab, until his 1982 retirement.
Born in 1915 in Lebanon, N.H., Stevens had lived in Milton for more than 60 years.
He served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard during World War II, and in his retirement, he volunteered at the Museum of Science and gave tours at the Church of the Presidents in Quincy.
Stevens is survived by his wife, Audrey (Munch) Stevens; a son, Jeffrey L. Stevens of Roslindale; and a daughter, Janet H. Stevens of Quincy.
Donations may be made to either the Shriners Burn Institute of Boston, 51 Blossom St., Boston, MA 02114, or to the Schepens Eye Research Institute, 20 Staniford St., Boston, MA 02114.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 1, 2006 (download PDF).
