Steve Gitomer served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science for over 40 years.  He passed away on April 25^th, 2025, at the age of 82.

Steve received a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964, an MS degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1966, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1969. 

From there he joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1974.  He transitioned to the Los Alamos Center for International Security Affairs in 1995.  He became a member of the Nonproliferation and International Security Division in 1993, where his responsibilities included serving as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), Senior Science Advisor to the U. S. Department of State for the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), and principal Los Alamos point-of-contact for the ISTC, STCU, and lab-to-lab interactions with the former Soviet Union.  From 1991 to 1993, he served at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Arms Control in Washington D.C., where his work focused on implementation of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty and the establishment of the science and technology centers in Russia and Ukraine.  Steve retired from LANL in 2005 and became a part-time senior scientist with the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, where he continued his nonproliferation work.  From 2009 to 2015, he served as the National Science Foundation program director for plasma physics.

Steve’s technical focus was on plasma science and applications and on numerical methods in plasma physics.  His contributions included work on laser-plasma interactions, the use of laser-produced plasmas in medicine, numerical simulation of direct energy conversion (looking at converting particle kinetic energy into electrical energy), modeling of rf electron accelerators, simulation of plasma instabilities, laser fusion diagnostics, and ablation modeling for laser -induced fusion applications.  Based upon his accomplishments, he was elevated to the rank of IEEE Fellow in 1992 “For leadership in the field of plasma science and the modeling of laser-produced plasmas.”

Steve took over as the third Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science in 1984 and continued in this capacity until mid-2024, for a total term of service of more than 40 years.  During those years, he implemented numerous improvements to the operations of the journal.  These included moving from quarterly to bimonthly and then to monthly publication, setting up a hierarchy of editors to promote a more efficient review process, expanding the scope of TPS to include new and emerging topics (pulsed power science and technology; industrial, commercial and biological applications of plasmas; dusty plasmas; electromagnetic launch science and technology; terahertz science and technology; and computational methods for plasma science), instituting a monthly email Newsletter highlighting journal papers thought to be of significant interest to the community, marshalling a large number of special issues devoted to traditional and emerging areas of plasma science, and establishing a Best Paper Award to reward excellent articles in the journal.  For his efforts, Steve was awarded the Richard F. Shea Distinguished Member Award in 2003.

Other activities associated with the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society included being one of the founding members of Plasma Science and Applications Committee (PSAC), second Chair of the PSAC Executive Committee (ExCom) in 1977–1978, and Chair of the 8th ICOPS in Santa Fe in 1981.

Outside of his technical activities, Steve had a number of other interests.  He enjoyed traveling the world, having visited all seven continents and all five oceans.  He was the chair of the Genealogy Committee of New Mexico Jewish Historical Society.  He was an avid bicyclist, and served as the membership coordinator and Treasurer of the Santa Fe SOBs (Seniors on Bikes) Cycling Club.  But most of all, he was a devoted family man.  He is survived by his wife of 59 years Joyce Gitomer, his daughters Michele and Alana, and four grandchildren Harley, Portia, Jacob and Matthew.  He particularly enjoyed talking about his grandchildren, sparking conversations by his unique sartorial choice of wearing ties with their photos emblazoned on the front.

Steve was truly a pillar of our community and his absence will be strongly felt.

Paul Dressendorfer, NPSS Publications Chair, can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].