Paul Allan Stokstad ’66
Paul Allan Stokstad ’66, a prolific inventor and generous philanthropist, died peacefully in his sleep on July 8, 2024, in Auburn, California, after a year-long battle with Lewy body dementia. In high school he won first place in a science fair project by building a Millikan oil drop apparatus to measure the charge of an electron. At Dartmouth Paul majored in physics and was a member of Alpha Chi Alpha. He started PASCO in 1964, his sophomore year, in his dorm room working on instrument design when he could at Dartmouth’s metal and wood shops. He subsequently built and sold Millikan oil drop apparatuses from his parents’ garage in Lafayette, California. Paul remained in Hanover to complete his bachelor’s and master’s in engineering at Thayer School and then earned an M.B.A. at Berkeley. Later he served Dartmouth and Thayer on fundraising committees and the executive committee of the Dartmouth Society of Engineers. PASCO, which celebrated its 60th year in 2024, grew to become the dominant supplier of physics lab instrumentation for high school and college education, with 200 employees and thousands of products found in more than 130 countries. Paul remained president until 2017. Paul also established the PASCO foundation to serve various not-for-profits in Placer County. In 1996, Paul married Shelley Burdick, who survives him. The couple was active in the Roseville Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Paul served on the board of Maranatha Volunteers International and Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Paul derived satisfaction from helping others less fortunate.
