Photo courtesy of George Ellis, a close friend and coworker of Bill.
Below: Tuscon, April 2012 (after Fang Li-Zhi's funeral): ani, bill, bob "selfie" before the term became fashionable:
From: P. José Funes - Specola Vaticana [jfunes@specola.va]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 7:42 PM
To: allsteward@as.arizona.edu
Subject: Bill Stoeger
- Sad news
I am deeply sad to report the death of Father Bill Stoeger, S.J.. He was called home to the Lord this evening at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California, where he was treated and taken care for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that spread to the bones. The Jesuit Community of the Vatican Observatory has lost a brother, a friend, and an outstanding scientist. We will miss Bill very much.
I will send more information as soon as I get it.
Bill Stoeger was a staff scientist for the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson, specializing in theoretical cosmology, high-energy astrophysics, and interdisciplinary studies relating to science, philosophy and theology. He was born in 1943 in Torrance, California and grew up in Redondo Beach, California. He entered the Society of Jesus in September 1961, and in 1967 completed his bachelor's degree with honors in philosophy from Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama. In 1969 he was awarded an M.S. in physics from UCLA. After lecturing briefly in the physics department at the University of San Francisco, he began theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California where he finished an S.T.M. and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. Afterwards he pursued doctoral studies in astrophysics at Cambridge University, U.K., and completed his PhD in 1976. From 1976 - 1979 he was a research associate with the theoretical gravitational physics group at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. He joined the staff of the Vatican Observatory in September 1979. Bill's research has dealt with various problems connected with the physics of accretion onto black holes, and mathematical and physical issues connected with torsion and bi-metric theories of gravity, as well as the harmonic map structures contained in gravitational theories, including general relativity. More recently, he had concentrated on observationally oriented projects in theoretical cosmology, attempting to build more adequate bridges between theory and cosmologically relevant astronomical observations. He also continues to pursue some research on the physics of the central engine in active galactic nuclei and quasars.
Besides his research and writing in cosmology and astrophysics, Bill was very active in lecturing and teaching at the University of Arizona, at the University of San Francisco, and at Vatican Observatory Summer Schools. He was a member of the American Physical Society, the American Astronomical Society, and the Society for General Relativity and Gravitation. He was on the Board of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), Secretary of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, and co-editor of the series “Philosophy in Science.” He also was an active participant in the Vatican/CTNS workshops on "God's Action in the World: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action" and in the Science-Theology Consultation of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton.
Bill also exercised his priestly ministry in the Diocese of Tucson helping out in parishes. He was also a very fine spirtual director and give retreats around the US.
José G. Funes, S.J.
Director
Vatican Observatory
Looks like this came from Bill's Vatican Observatory page:
http://vaticanobservatory.org/about-us/personnel-and-research/73-personnel-and-research/william-stoeger-sj/326-william-stoeger-sj
Here is a longer obituary:
http://ncse.com/blog/2014/05/god-astronomy-appreciation-william-r-stoeger-0015569
and a Google search:
https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=bill+stoeger
back to bob's G9 website