Edward A. Frieman, the former director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, passed away of a respiratory illness on Thursday April 11, 2013 at UCSD Thornton Hospital. Frieman was 87 years old and the eighth appointed director of Scripps.

Frieman graduated from Columbia University at the age of 20 on the U.S. Navy V-12 program where he trained as a diver and participated in and observed the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. 

He went on to obtain his Ph.D. in physics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, later becoming one of the first scientists recruited to work on Project Matterhorn at Princeton University.

“Ed Frieman had a remarkable scientific life,” Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography Charles Kennel said. “I was privileged to be his, I believe, second Ph.D. student.”

Prior to his UCSD career, Frieman worked as the executive vice president and group manager for Science Applications International Corporation in La Jolla. 

In 1988, Frieman became director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor of marine sciences at UCSD. 

“He was quiet, apparently unassuming, seemingly happy just to be accepted by the big egos that dominate science,” Kennel said. “But Ed worked differently, confidentially, one-on-one, and it was there that the strength of his mind, his clear eyed realism and the force of his will really came through.”

While at UCSD, Frieman also served as a research professor of physics at the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps.

“Ed, thoroughly familiar with both the government and science, recognized that science, and particularly ocean science, was bound to change as the end of the Cold War neared,” Kennel said. “He positioned Scripps to be the one of the world’s leaders in this field while maintaining Scripps’ close relationship with the Navy.”

In 1994, Frieman was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In honor of his 70th birthday, his family established the Edward A. Frieman Prize for Excellence in graduate student research at Scripps. 

The Frieman Prize annually recognizes Scripps graduate students for their scientific work.

He retired as director of Scripps and UCSD vice chancellor of marine sciences in 1996, returning to his office at SAIC.

“He was a thoughtful leader and a very kind man,” Director of Scripps Communications Cindy Clark said.

Frieman is survived by his wife, Joy, sons Michael, Josh and Jonathan, and daughters Wendy and Linda as well as six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

A public memorial for Frieman will be held at Scripps. The date has not yet been determined.

“I suppose one could say they do not make them like that anymore, and it is true,” Kennel said. “The country has changed, the Cold War is over, and physicists are no longer the dominant figures they once were. Ed was one of the few to navigate the transition to the global world we now live in.”