Tribute to Ervin László

On June 29, 2026, near his hometown of Montescudaio in Tuscany, Ervin László made his transition from this world. Dr. László was one of the great visionaries in a field IONS has spent fifty years building — one meant to demonstrate, through scientific rigor and a persistent belief in humanity, that consciousness is not an epiphenomenon of matter, but a fundamental feature of the cosmos.

Ervin came to that vision unexpectedly — a concert pianist first, who discovered that music alone could not hold all he needed to share, and who then spent the rest of his life sharing his belief that the universe is one coherent, evolving whole, with physics and metaphysics the same subject seen from two vantage points. He was a kindred spirit to our founder, Edgar Mitchell — an astronaut steeped in the materialist paradigm until his return from the Moon provided an epiphany that everything was one within an intelligent universe, leading him to establish IONS to help provide the scientific justification for this transformational revelation. For both men, life was a story that could be understood only through the recognition of greater complexity, greater wholeness, and greater consciousness.

Unconditional love as a driver of coherence

At a UN event several years ago, I spoke to an assembly of next gen philanthropists and impact investors about coherence and collective consciousness as sources of leverage for sustainable world change. I was wondering if I was in the right room until I saw Ervin enter it, and light up when my comments turned to unconditional love as a driver of coherence. That evening, he referred to me as “the woman who dares to speak about love,” because in that regard, perhaps we were kindred spirits. My experience was that wherever he was, and whatever he was talking about, Ervin spoke with the sensitivity and urgency of someone who truly loved humanity and understood the value of love in turning the tide.

The work of IONS today still builds on the ground Ervin helped clarify. In a transcript of a conversation between him and David Lorimer from a 2022 ConnectIONS Live, Ervin used to say that a course of action, when it’s right, has a way of announcing itself — that he could “feel” it fit into place. IONS was fortunate to have been, for him, one of those places where things seemed to fit. As we carry this work into its next chapter, we carry Dr. László with us: a guide, a colleague, an unsurpassed inspiration in discerning a new account of the universe and what it means to be human.

The words and music from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song floated into my mind as I wrote this tribute, and I wonder if Ervin put them there: “Carry on. Love is coming. Love is coming to us all.”