Dr. Jean-Daniel Stanley

The family of Dr. Jean-Daniel Stanley is deeply saddened to announce his passing on April 27, 2026, at age 92. Born on April 14, 1934, in Strasbourg, France, Dr. Stanley lived a full and remarkable life. He touched the hearts of everyone he met through his generosity, his kindness, and his world-renowned research in the sciences.

After emigrating to the US from France as a child during World War II, he graduated from Cornell University in 1954 (pre-med); Brown University in 1958 (masters in geology); and The University of Grenoble and Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole in 1961 (Doctor of Science); He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1964.

He has held the positions of Research Scientist at the Institut Français du Pétrole (1958-1961); Captain and Assistant Director of the US Corps of Engineers Experiment Station (1962-1963); Assistant Professor of Geology at Ottowa University (1963-1964); Associate at the Institute of Oceanography at Dalhousie University (1964-1966); Adjunct Professor of Geology at University of Illinois (1969-1974); Adjunct Professor of Geology at University of Maine-Orono (1974-1991); Adjunct Professor of Geology at Université du Québec (1991-2015); Legal Advisor at the International Court of Justice at The Hague (1981); and Consultant with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

His society memberships included the Italian Academy of Sciences and Technology, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, Corresponding Member of Société Géologique de Belgique, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Society for Sedimentary Geology, Sigma Xi, Geo Science World, and the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. He received multiple awards in the earth sciences.

The bulk of his career at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Paleobiology began in 1966, culminating in the positions of Senior Scientist Emeritus and Director of Mediterranean Studies and Geoarchaeology. His decades-long work, which included studying submerged settlements of the Ancient Greeks near the Nile Delta and off the coast of Southern Italy, produced more than 300 publications and received nearly 12,000 citations.

He had a lifetime of adventures all around the globe, from his work and friendship with famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, to his scuba diving expeditions in the Red Sea and beyond, to his time spent traveling to the ocean’s depths in the submersible Alvin, and his multiple flights to The Hague on the Concorde supersonic airliner.

He was a resident of NW Washington, DC, for nearly 50 years before retiring and moving to Adamstown, MD, in 2015.

He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 38 years, Adrienne Stanley (Ellis/Deppa), his children Eric Stanley (Rachael), Natalie Stanley Van Rossum (Jeff), and Marc Stanley, stepson Brian Deppa, stepdaughter Susan Deppa (Dennis), and grandchildren Robin, Katie, Ellie, Paige, and Madeliene.

The family thanks the doctors, nurses, aides, and other hospice workers at Buckingham’s Choice in Adamstown, MD, for their compassion and care in his final years.