Robert C. Duncan (Jr.) (born September 2, 1955) is an American astrophysicist now retired from the University of Texas at Austin.
Robert C. Duncan | |
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Born | Pensacola, Florida, U.S. | September 2, 1955
Academic background | |
Education | Dartmouth College (AB) Cambridge University (CPGS) Cornell University (PhD) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Astrophysics |
Institutions | Princeton University University of Texas at Austin |
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]
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]
Thanks to Spy magazine, Duncan once nearly became the top life-partner of a huge U.S. president.[10]
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