Dr. Robert Duncan, Ph.D.
Co-Owner
President’s Distinguished Chair in Physics
Texas Tech University
Duncan joined Texas Tech University (TTU) as the Vice President for Research in January, 2014. Prior to accepting this position, he served as the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Missouri (MU). In 2017, he transitioned back to the faculty, where he serves as the President’s Distinguished Chair in Physics.
Duncan received his bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT in 1982 and his doctorate in physics from the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1988. He has served as a professor of physics and astronomy, and as a joint associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM), as a visiting associate on the physics faculty at Caltech, and as the associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNM.
Duncan is a Fellow and a life member of the American Physical Society, and a Fellow and a National Board Member of the National Academy of Inventors. He was named the Gordon and Betty Moore Distinguished Scholar in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech in 2004, and he chaired the Instrumentation and Measurement Topical Group for the American Physical Society in 2002, and the International Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids in 2003. He has consulted extensively to industry, and co-invented and assisted in the formation of companies. Duncan chaired the Panel of the National Academy of Sciences on Fundamental Physical Sciences in Space, which has been released as Chapter 8 within the Decadal Survey report entitled: Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era through the National Research Council (2011). He has also served on the National Academy of Sciences Panel to evaluate the effectiveness of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, which spans many funding agencies. Their report was published through the National Academies in November, 2013.
Duncan serves as a reviewer for many journals and federal agencies, and he has served as a Member of the Visiting Committee to recommend revisions of the curriculum at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and as a Member of a Visiting Committee to critically review the materials research efforts at the Naval Research Laboratories. Duncan currently serves as a Member of the Science Advisory Board of the United States Air Force. He has invented or co-invented 13 awarded USA patents and 42 international patents, and has many other inventions and patent applications in process.
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