Tribute for Stanislav Sazykin

Stanislav Sazykin, an associate research professor of physics and astronomy who was highly respected in his field of space science, died suddenly on May 3 at 49.

Sazykin joined Rice in 2000 as a postdoctoral researcher, rising quickly to associate research professor. “Stan was a distinguished computational physicist and a well-established and highly respected member of the space plasma physics community,” said Richard Wolf, a professor emeritus and research professor of physics and astronomy at Rice. “He was one of the smartest people any of us have ever encountered, with an extraordinarily rigorous and penetrating mind. He was particularly adept at finding weak points in arguments, putting him in high demand as a reviewer.”

As a graduate student at Utah State University, Sazykin reprogrammed most of the Rice Convection Model (RCM) of the Earth’s inner magnetosphere. At Rice, he led the continued development and use of the RCM, extending its usefulness by participating in multiple code-coupling projects with other large-scale models. He was a member of Rice’s committee on faculty and staff benefits and served for seven years on the Faculty Senate, where he helped developed policies for research and teaching professors.

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