Elsevier Releases Special Tribute Issue of Space Policy Journal to Honor Molly Macauley

Elsevier, publisher of the quarterly journal Space Policy, has released a special issue of the journal to honor Molly Macauley, who was murdered on July 8.  Macauley was a member of the journal’s editorial board and authored or co-authored 14 articles for it over the years.  The special issue makes those articles available for free and offers tributes from 25 of her space policy colleagues and friends.

The Virtual Special Issue is posted on Elsevier’s Space Policy website.   Macauley’s articles can be read or downloaded for free until the end of 2016.  The most recent was a co-authored paper published in 2013: Policy for Robust Space-Based Earth Science, Technology and Applications.

Macauley was an economist who spent most of her career at Resources for the Future (RFF), a Washington-based think tank focused on environmental issues.  Before joining RFF in 1983, she was a policy analyst at the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT).  She was one of the few economists who specialized in satellites and the space program, especially earth science and applications from space.   She was murdered while walking her dogs near her home in Baltimore, MD.  The police continue to investigate.

A celebration of life service was held in Baltimore on July 23 and RFF plans a memorial service in Washington, DC in September (details pending).

Editor’s Note:   I am the North American editor of Space Policy and was privileged to help pull together the special issue for Molly, whom I knew for more than 30 years.   The special issue includes some personal photos of Molly from colleagues.  I provided one of them and have decided to post it here, too, as a happy memory at a sad time.  In 1995, 10 of us women in the Washington space policy community decided to meet for afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton in Arlington, VA — wearing hats.  The idea was inspired by Eilene Galloway (1906-2009) and her delightful collection from the era when ladies wore hats.  It was such fun and the photo is a wonderful way to remember Molly.

Front row (L-R):   Kate Kronmiller (with son Rory in stroller and Rory’s “frog king” in hand) and Eilene Galloway.
Back row (L-R):  Marcia Smith, Margaret Roberts, Jessie Harris, Molly Macauley, June Edwards, Kathleen Ryan (holding daughter Sarah), JoAnn Clayton Townsend, and Angela Phillips Diaz.  Photo courtesy of Marcia Smith.  All rights reserved.