Alexander K. Stuart – “A Life in Hydrogen”

A Giant has left us: Alexander Stuart, thoughtful conservationist, accomplished engineer, businessman and especially devoted family man, bequeathed to all who knew him a wonderful legacy in both personal style and quality thought. Sandy peacefully departed our world in his 91st year, December 20, 2014

During WW II, Sandy served as Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy. He loved the sea and was a consummate outdoorsman. He was passionate about wildlife and championed environmental causes long before it was fashionable.

I first met Sandy when he visited me at the University of Toronto. I’d just returned from Ottawa where I’d met Dr. Phil Cockshut who had introduced me to the idea of hydrogen. I remember thinking on the flight home from Ottawa “this hydrogen idea is profound”—and that was why I’d taken the liberty of asking Sandy to visit and explain his views on hydrogen systems. Our conversation changed my career and, in turn, the careers of many others.

A respected businessman and entrepreneur, Sandy founded The Electrolyser Corporation (later Stuart Energy Systems). Among many contributions, Sandy served as: Chair, Canada’s Export Development Corporation; Chair, the Hydrogen Committee of the International Energy Agency; Chair, 1984 World Hydrogen Energy Conference; Vice-Chair, National Hydrogen Association (Washington, D. C.). He was honored often, including receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, and as an Inductee of the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumnae Hall of Distinction.

Yet to me, perhaps what was most remarkable about Sandy is that while he sometimes suffered the slings and arrows from lesser people, as do many successful men, he ALWAYS responded as a true gentleman.

David Sanborn Scott
VP for North America, IAHE, USA
Author of “Smelling Land: The Hydrogen Defense Against Climate Catastrophy“