Richard Hayes
1979 - 2003

I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves - such an ethical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. ... The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Albert Eintein, 1930.

Obituary

Our situation on this Earth seems strange. Every one of us appears here, involuntarily and uninvited, for a short stay, without knowing why. For me, it is enough to wonder at the secrets. Albert Eintein.

On Thursday, April 3, 2003, Richard Hayes died in a single vehicle rollover accident on Old Munds Highway. Richard was a Merged Physics/Astronomy major, working in the department as an Astronomy 181 TA and participating enthusiastically in the Society of Physics Students (serving as the treasurer for that group).

A memorial service was held on Monday, April 7 at the Campus Ministry Center where a large number of friends, classmates and teachers took the opportunity to express how Richard had touched their lives. He will be missed.

The NAU LumberJack (student newspaper) published a story about Richard ( Student Richard Hayes Dies in Car Crash ) and one of his Astronomy 181 students also wrote to express his feelings ( Coming to Terms in a Carpe Diem Eulogy).

Richard Hayes Memorial Scholarship

Thanks to the generous support of Richard's family and friends, the Department of Physics and Astronomy now has an endowed scholarship in his memory. The first Richard Hayes Memorial Scholarship will be awarded for the fall of 2009.

If you would like to donate to this endowment, please contact astro.physics@nau.edu, (928-523-2661).