RAYNOR L. DUNCOMBE ’40

RAYNOR L. DUNCOMBE, professor emeritus of aerospace science at the University of Texas at Austin, and an astronomer and former director of the National Almanac Office, died July 12, 2013. He was 96. A member of Sigma Nu, he was elected to Sigma Xi. He received a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Iowa and later a PhD in astronomy from Yale University. He was a member of the NASA space science steering committee, having worked on the Vanguard, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects, and was instrumental in determining the orbit of Sputnik when it was launched. A member of the Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry team, he was the past executive editor of Celestial Mechanics. He was a fellow of various astronomy associations and received numerous awards. He was as comfortable reciting poetry as he was discussing the universe. Also a singer and musician, he was skilled at plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work, and had learned to fly a plane. He was predeceased by his first wife, Avis Bailey Duncombe and by his second wife, Julena Steinheider Duncombe. He is survived by one son, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.