Patricia Margaret Sterns

was the personification of elegance, intelligence, and charm. She was born in Phoenix in 1952,

the daughter of aviation pioneer Lawrence P. Sterns and Mildred D. Sterns, and the granddaughter

of Arizona pioneer farmers Ed and Gerti Barbaras. She graduated from Arizona State

University in May 1974, with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a minor in Fine Arts, and

obtained a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona in May 1977. She was a member

of the State Bar of Arizona, and practiced with her husband, Leslie I. Tennen, in the firm of

Sterns and Tennen for more than 35 years, with a focus on space law. She served for many years

as a Judge Pro Tempore of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, primarily on the family law

bench. She was admitted to practice before the United States District Court, and the United

States Supreme Court. She was elected as a lifetime member of the International Institute Of

Space Law (IISL) in 1978, and served as a Director until her colleagues voted her to hold the

lifetime position of Honorary Director. She was a full member of the International Academy of

Astronautics (IAA), and an associate of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). She

published more than 50 articles and book chapters in legal, scientific, and technical journals on

the subject of space law, both alone and in collaboration with her husband and distinguished

space authorities, on topics including planetary environmental protection, the search for

extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), commercial uses of space, and living and working in space.

She was co-editor of Private Law, Public Law, Metalaw, and Public Policy in Space, A Liber

Amicorum in Honor of Ernst Fasan (2016). She was a co-recipient, as a chapter contributor, of

the Social Science Book Award, International Academy of Astronautics in 2011. She served as a

judge in many international Moot Court Competitions, and frequently participated in and lectured

at numerous national and international symposia, workshops, colloquia, and congresses

throughout the world. She served as co-chair for sessions of the IISL colloquia, and scientific

sessions of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) and World Space Congress. In 1998,

she was the co-recipient with her husband of the IISL Award of Appreciation. Her firm was the

first institutional member of the IISL, the first law firm to be elected to membership in the

International Astronautical Federation, and annually sponsors an award for the Best Oralist of the

Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. She attended the Third United Nations

Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III). She was a frequent lecturer,

consultant and advisor on space matters to both private and public organizations, on the state,

national and international levels. Shortly before her passing, she was the recipient of the Albert

Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Her biography was included in Who’s Who in Aviation and

Aerospace, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in America. She is survived by her

husband, sister-in-law Dena Tennen, brother-in-law Cory Tennen, friends around the world, her

feline companions Ophelia and Valentina, and her menagerie of peacocks, chickens, a cow, bees,

and farm cats at the Bar E Ranch. She loved to ride her horse Magi, and traveling the world. A

memorial service will be held on May 18, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. at A.L. Moore-Grimshaw Mortuary.

An online book of remembrance has been set up at almoore-grimshaw.com In lieu of flowers

contributions in her memory can be made to a charity of choice.