In 1997, Ralph Upson Stone '80 had completed research on his doctoral dissertation, "Women Leaders in Kenya," when he was brutally murdered by a still unidentified assailant in his home in Washington, DC, at the age of 38. Determined that his years of labor would not be lost, his mother, Anne Upson Stone, put the finishing touches on Ralph's research and concluded the writing of his dissertation. In 1998, at age 68, she successfully defended it before her son's professors at George Washington University. That summer, Ralph's Ed.D. degree was posthumously awarded, with his mother and father, Frederick L. Stone, Jr. '51, on hand to receive it.
This June, the Centre for Development and Population Activities, of which Ralph was the highly respected and admired director of training, published the fruits of his and his mother's labors as a book: Women Leaders in Kenya; A Legacy for the Future. Proceeds from its sale will go to the Ralph U. Stone Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships for leaders around the world to attend seminars at CEDPA, a nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Washington and aimed at empowering women at all levels of society.
The book, which includes a remembrance of Ralph Stone as well as a biographical sketch of Anne Stone, represents a son's legacy and a mother's loving commitment. "While many people who write a dissertation think of it as quite an ordeal, for me it was a healing experience," she recalls. "The whole experience was a joint adventure with Ralph. I had done something that I know Ralph would be so pleased about. All his hard work and research was not for nothing."
This June, the Centre for Development and Population Activities, of which Ralph was the highly respected and admired director of training, published the fruits of his and his mother's labors as a book: Women Leaders in Kenya; A Legacy for the Future. Proceeds from its sale will go to the Ralph U. Stone Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships for leaders around the world to attend seminars at CEDPA, a nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Washington and aimed at empowering women at all levels of society.
The book, which includes a remembrance of Ralph Stone as well as a biographical sketch of Anne Stone, represents a son's legacy and a mother's loving commitment. "While many people who write a dissertation think of it as quite an ordeal, for me it was a healing experience," she recalls. "The whole experience was a joint adventure with Ralph. I had done something that I know Ralph would be so pleased about. All his hard work and research was not for nothing."
