In Memoriam: Ralph Cicerone

Carnegie Corporation of New York Trustee Ralph Cicerone, the President Emeritus of the National Academy of Sciences, died unexpectedly on November 5. He had served on the Corporation’s Board since June 2009.

Carnegie Corporation of New York Trustee Ralph Cicerone, the President Emeritus of the National Academy of Sciences, died unexpectedly on November 5 at his home in New Jersey at age 73. He had served on the Corporation’s Board since June 2009.

“The trustees of Carnegie Corporation of New York are shocked and saddened by the loss of our fellow board member, Dr. Ralph Cicerone. He was known and respected internationally as an eminent scientist, education leader, and, of course, as the president of the National Academy of Sciences,” said Governor Thomas Kean, Chairman of the Carnegie Corporation Board. “We were especially grateful for his years of service to the Corporation, as a trustee and as a member of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Selection Committee.”

“Carnegie Corporation benefited greatly from Ralph Cicerone’s steadfast leadership, his insight, and his wisdom,” said Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation. “We are forever grateful that he shared his many talents with us and with the nation, and will miss his wit, intelligence, and friendship very much.”

Cicerone’s successor as President of NAS, Marcia McNutt, said, “The entire scientific community is mourning the sudden and untimely loss of this great leader who has been unexpectedly removed from the forefront of the scientific issues that matter most to the future well-being of society. Ralph Cicerone was a model for all of us of not only doing what counts, but doing it with honesty, integrity, and deep passion.”

Read more from the National Academy of Science.