People You Should Know: Rob Duncan
Vice chancellor for research at the University of Missouri
AGE: 49
JOB DESCRIPTION: I manage the entire research enterprise within the University of Missouri, with over $203 million per year in sponsored research expenses and over $450 million in total regional economic impact.
YEARS LIVED IN COLUMBIA: Working on my first. We moved here and closed on our house Aug. 15.
ORIGINAL HOMETOWN: St. Joseph, Mo.
EDUCATION: Diploma from Central High School in St. Joseph (1978), a B.S. in Physics from MIT (1982) and a Ph.D. in physics from University of California-Santa Barbara.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Eagle Scout and former assistant scoutmaster. Looking forward to future scouting involvement in Columbia and to joining Rotary.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: Following my Ph.D., I joined Sandia National Laboratories as a physicist in 1988, spent a year as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., then joined the physics faculty at the University of New Mexico in 1996, where I later became the associate dean for research in Arts and Sciences in 2002. I am also on the physics faculty at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., where I was the Gordon and Betty Moore Distinguished Scholar in the Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy Division in 2004-05. I operated the New Mexico Consortium (of universities) and was the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 2006 to 2008, prior to moving to MU to accept my current position.
A COLUMBIA BUSINESSPERSON I ADMIRE AND WHY: Many, for example, Larry Moore, Bob Black and the CEOs/presidents for the regional banks for their dedication and hard work to the betterment of our entire community.
WHY I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT MY JOB: We have an outstanding opportunity to do three critical things: 1) Educate the next generation of dedicated leaders, innovators and artists. 2) Greatly benefit the economic development of this region through leading the effort to re-emerge technical innovation in the USA. 3) To contribute to knowledge, science and the arts throughout the world in the creative works we produce within MU.
IF I WEREN’T DOING THIS FOR A LIVING, I WOULD: Fly airplanes, start high-technology companies and teach people physics.
BIGGEST CAREER OBSTACLE I’VE OVERCOME AND HOW: Birth. It just worked out well. I was so very fortunate to be born to loving parents who were very supportive of me.
A FAVORITE RECENT PROJECT: Starting the New Mexico Consortium (of universities), and directing the Institute for Advanced Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PROFESSION: If you think education is too expensive, then just try ignorance, since that is really expensive in the long run. MU is both an outstanding university and one of the very best bargains in higher education today. Physics is fascinating since just a few simple forces and organizing principles describe so much of the vast complexity that we encounter every day. Physics trains you to think objectively and analytically and to reject magical thought.
WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Walk, run, hike trails and ride our tandem bicycle with my beautiful wife. I also run ultra-marathon runs through some of the prettiest places on earth, such as the Leadville, Colo., 100-mile Mountain Ultra-Marathon (Leadville Trail 100, with official finishes in 1996 and 1999).
FAMILY: My wife, Dr. Annie Sobel. My brother Drue Duncan and his family live in Columbia; my parents Dan and Inez Duncan; and my sister Jill DuBarr and her family live in St. Joseph. I have many close relatives, primarily throughout Missouri, Kansas and Alaska.
FAVORITE PLACE IN COLUMBIA: Any parking spot close to my MU office. I love to stare out over the Missouri River from the bluffs.
ACCOMPLISHMENT I’M MOST PROUD OF: The education of my former students who now hold key positions in industry, academia and government, and in being of profound service to the communities where I live and work.
MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT I: Restore antique radios, a 1907 antique X-ray machine, and I ride a 50″ high-wheel ‘Boneshaker’ bicycle occasionally around campus.