Stuart C. Black was born March 25, 1919 in Charleston, South Carolina. Black married Vivian December 25, 1941 and they have two children: Richard and Deborah.

Black was in the United States Army Air Force from 1940 to 1945.

Black obtained a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1949 and then a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester, New York in 1957.