In Memoriam
James Scott Shaw
Scott Shaw
1964 Yale graduation
Scott died on June 24, 2024 in Athens, GA, but we did not learn of his death until November 27, 2024.
In remembrance of Scott, here is his obituary, followed by three essays that he wrote for our Reunion Books over the years.
Obituary
Athens Banner Herald
June 27, 2024
Scott Shaw
in 2014
James Scott Shaw passed away on June 24, 2024, after a valiant two-year battle with multiple myeloma.
He was preceded in death by his parents, James Earl and Mildred Hart Shaw, and his son, David Scott Shaw. He is survived by his wife, Beth Bowen Shaw, his daughter Christine Shaw (Michael Weingartner), his daughter-in-law Jami Shaw, grandson Kellan James Shaw, granddaughter Mildred Katherine Shaw-Weingartner, and numerous in-laws, nieces, and nephews.
Scott was born on October 13, 1942, in Grand Junction, Colorado where he was valedictorian of his high school, an Eagle Scout, and a state champion orator. He attended Yale University (BA, honors, astronomy 1964) and the University of Pennsylvania (PhD, 1970). While at Yale he participated in many internships, which engendered a lifelong passion for mentoring younger scientists, beginning when he joined the University of Georgia as a professor in 1970. For two decades, he served as director of a National Science Foundation Summer Science Training program and helped found NASA’s UGA JOVE program, the predecessor of UGA’s CURO program, and a summer science training program for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was also a founding board member of the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy, which provided research opportunities for faculty and students using an observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona. Scott loved his 50 years of research and teaching astronomy at the University of Georgia where he was a Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor.
Outside of the classroom, Scott took on many roles over the years at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, among them usher, vestry member, Stephen Minister, and Education for Ministry. He was particularly fond of his work later in life at the Thrift Store, following in his father-in-law’s footsteps.
Most of all, however, he loved family life. This included coaching his son’s and daughter's soccer teams, timing their swimming meets, and vacations on Jekyll Island. Most of all he loved being with his wife Beth, whom he had the great fortune of meeting at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church singles group. Their lives together were a true blessing.
Family and friends are invited to The Celebration of Life for Scott Shaw on Monday, July 1, at 12 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 498 Prince Ave, Athens, GA.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to your local library or Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
Essay, 60th Reunion Book
by J. Scott Shaw
May 2024
I sing the praises of the Yale Bursary Program.
When I received the financial breakdown for my freshman year, included was a bursary job which was required of all scholarship students. It made me proud that I was helping pay for my education, unlike all the ‘rich kids’ who were entirely supported by their parents. I had worked at a paying job since I was a paper boy at age 12. Thus a job provided me with a familiar anchor to keep me from being swamped by an academic sea that was clearly over my head.
As almost all freshman bursary students I was a busboy. The staff of the Pierson dining hall was familiar to me, from the kind, helpful little old lady who was my boss to the drunken Russian immigrant who ran the dishwasher. I took me longer to figure out my classmates.
As an astronomy major I turned out to be a rarity, but that seemed to garner me a position in the Astronomy Department. Let’s just say it was an ‘entry level job’: punching cards for a database of the orbits of comets. This time my boss was the world’s foremost comet expert, Brian Marsden. My coworkers were all middle-aged women, modern day clerical workers. I was the only male in the office, young, awkward and clueless, so they took me under their wing. They did not physically pat me on the head, but I often felt that care.
In spite of very mediocre grades, I was promoted to programmer junior year. it was probably due to the fact that the new computer center offered the Astronomy Department a huge opportunity to expand their research and they could not find anyone else. Certainly not at the rate they paid bursary students. In the age-old tradition of programmers they sat me down in front of a PDP-11, gave me a programming manual and the calculation they wanted solved and told me to check in once a week to submit my hours and tell them of any progress. It was the start of a 50-year career of writing code to solve the wonderful questions of the universe. I quickly became convinced that all you need to write code is a good manual and easy access to a computer which will run that code. I also learned that computer time is golden and the most fun is when you have full, uninterrupted control of the computer. That control is what always made machine language so much fun, quite inefficient sometimes, but fun.
Senior year the astronomy problems got harder and the bursary job began to feel more like an internship rather than a job. This was back in the day when undergraduates were generally considered too uneducated for internships. But I guess they liked my codes. Halfway through the year someone handed me a FORTRAN manual and we were off to the races. It is hard to understand how big a deal this was. Every scientist knew this new code was going to be a big hit. Although I was to later write in several other languages, the majority of my heavy lifting was always in a version of FORTRAN.
The final long-lasting benefit of four years of bursary jobs was that I learned from those around me how to be a boss and a mentor.. That stood me in good stead for directing hundreds of internships for NSF, NASA, HHMI, and for an undergraduate internship program I helped create at the University of Georgia.
All hail the Yale Bursary Program!
Essay, 50th Reunion Book
by J. Scott Shaw
May 2014
Having a daughter at Yale who is graduating just before our 50th reunion has focused my attention on how much Yale was a transformational experience for me. I am sure, or at least I would hope, that was true for all of my classmates to some extent. However, I think the transformation was more significant for a boy from a small town in the west. My parents had taught me that there was a much larger world outside the geographical and intellectual boundaries of Western Colorado and I had seen hints of it in books, but the Yale universe blew my mind. Here was a place of knowledge, understanding, creativity and innovation not rivaled anywhere. It took two years to wrap my mind around how large the world of of ideas and knowledge was, junior year to realize that my physics and astronomy professors were the ones creating the newest ideas that described and shaped that world and a senior internship to convince me that I could become a part of it.
I went from clueless observer of the world to an active member in just four years. Amazing! Moreover, Yale’s lesson was that its graduates were not just citizens of their professions (for me astronomy) but they were also responsible for bettering the world.
Since Yale, I have been fortunate to discover a little bit new about the universe and to teach more than a little bit about our universe and how we should live in it. The deep discussions about the nature of everything that started at Yale have extended into my own classrooms, research laboratories, scientific conferences and sometimes, to the dismay of family and friends, the dinner table, car rides and sporting events. It has been a great 50 years. My thanks to all my friends, classmates and professors.
Essay, 25th Reunion Book
by J. Scott Shaw
May 1989
I remain optimistic about God, Country, and Yale. In spite of our determination to kill each other individually, I see improvement in our realization that this is not the best thing to do. Science and technology are giving us the choice to improve our physical and spiritual lives greatly and there are many who cry out for the more ethical and moral choices. I am convinced our Yale education has helped us make the better choices. I fervently hope Yale remains strong so that future classes can continue to help determining the upward path for humanity.