  Two of the major achievements of Stephen Hawking are described in elementary
terms. They are his work on the beginning of the universe and his work on the
end of black holes. These are perhaps the scientific achievements for which he
is best known. Some of the qualities that enabled his great achievements are
also described. The article is a slightly edited version of one solicited by
the Proceedings of the (US) National Academy of Sciences for their
Retrospectives section and will appear there.
