John Bystrom; Created Satellite Communications Project

John Bystrom, 69, who established a pan-Pacific Ocean satellite communications project designed to lessen the isolation of remote islands. In 1971 Bystrom established the University of Hawaii’s PEACESAT program, which linked 14 Pacific areas via a low-technology communications system. PEACESAT, which stands for Pan-Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite, made Hawaii the first state to offer university courses and handle inter-library communications by satellite. The program also united Hawaii with participating Pacific islands on a number of educational, medical, research and public service programs. Bystrom, a professor of communications at the university, was born in Minnesota and received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He also served as president of the Minnesota Board of Education, and was a political adviser to Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey. In Honolulu on Jan. 4 after heart bypass surgery.