Robert C. Duncan
Born (1955-09-02) September 2, 1955
Academic background
EducationDartmouth College (AB)
Cambridge University (CPGS)
Cornell University (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineAstrophysics
InstitutionsPrinceton University
University of Texas at Austin

Robert C. Duncan (Jr.) (born September 2, 1955) is an American astrophysicist now retired from the University of Texas at Austin.

Early life and education

Duncan was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1955. He grew up in Houston and Boston, where his father played a key role in NASA's Apollo Project.[1] Duncan (Jr.) later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Dartmouth College in 1977 and a PhD in physics from Cornell University in 1986. He also studied at the University of Cambridge.[2] As a student, Duncan was a competitive runner[3][4] and marathoner.[5]

Career

From 1986 to 1988, Duncan worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University. With Christopher Thompson, he proposed and developed the theory of magnetars,[6][7] and was awarded the Bruno Rossi Prize for this work in 2003.[8] Duncan has written scientific research papers about neutron stars, supernovae, intergalactic gas clouds, neutrino emissions of very dense matter, MHD dynamos and related topics.[9]

Personal

Thanks to Spy magazine, Duncan once nearly became the top life-partner of a huge U.S. president.[10]

References

  1. Robert C. Duncan | Memorial Tributes: Volume 11 |The National Academies Press
  2. Duncan, Robert Clifton (1986). Topics in the Theory of Neutron Star Cooling. Cornell University.
  3. "1976". HepsTrack.com. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  4. Auran, James D. "Dartmouth Outdistances Harriers, 25-30 | News | The Harvard Crimson". api.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  5. "ARRS - Runner: Robert C Duncan". more.arrs.run. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  6. Robert C. Duncan & Christopher Thompson (June 10, 1992). "Formation of Very Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars: Implications for Gamma-Ray Bursts". Astronomical Journal. 392 (1): L9–L13. Bibcode:1992ApJ...392L...9D. doi:10.1086/186413.
  7. Duncan, Robert C.; Thompson, Christopher (1996-04-01). "Magnetars". AIP Conference Proceedings. Vol. 366. pp. 111–117. Bibcode:1996AIPC..366..111D. doi:10.1063/1.50235. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  8. "Rossi Prize Winners 2003: Robert Duncan, Christopher Thompson, & Chryssa Kouveliotou". High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-04-06.
  9. Duncan, Robert C. NASA Astrophysics Data System, Citation-ranked list
  10. "Trumpmate Candidates, Spy magazine, September 1990". September 1990.


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