Photo: Ed Jenkins/Astrophysical Sciences
JOHN ROGERSON JR. *54, a leader in the University’s early space projects, died July 8 at age 99. After graduating from Princeton’s astrophysical sciences Ph.D. program and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mount Wilson and Palomar observatories, Rogerson joined the faculty in 1956. He worked on the Stratoscope — a balloon-borne experiment that served as a precursor to orbiting telescopes — and the Copernicus satellite (Orbiting Astronomical Observatory III), a NASA collaboration with the U.K.’s Science Research Council.
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ROYCE FLIPPIN JR. ’56, Princeton’s director of athletics from 1972 to 1979, died July 31 at age 87. A fleet-footed tailback and football captain as an undergraduate, Flippin returned to the University after a career in business and investing. He led the athletics department during a period of notable successes, including an NIT championship for men’s basketball, and oversaw the early years of women’s athletics at Princeton. Flippin also expanded recreational sports, converting parts of Dillon Gym into a fitness center.
YING-SHIH YU, a prominent historian of China who taught in Princeton’s East Asian studies department for 14 years, died Aug. 1 at age 91. In a New York Times obituary, professor emeritus Willard Peterson hailed Yu’s versatility, noting that when he was hired, “our cohort of China specialists together realized that Professor Yu had at least one major publication in each of our special fields.” Yu also supported scholars and intellectuals exiled from China following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. His pro-democracy views later sparked reprisals from the Chinese government.
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Tom Pyle ’76
3 Years AgoRemembering Royce Flippin ’56
On Saturday, I attended the memorial celebration for the late Royce Flippin ’56 at Cap and Gown. As all his friends everywhere feel, this sad passing of a great Princetonian leaves us all lacking.
Over 45 years Royce was frequently in my life, showing his support, offering his advice. When I was a beleaguered USG student government president in 1975, then amidst a depressing mid-career miasma, and then during an inspiring Princeton-connected ecobusiness start-up, and then through my prostate cancer scare (as he had also experienced), Royce Flippin was always present for me.
What a suitable name! “Royce” ... a king amongst us, an angel in our midst. Ever giving, guiding, exuberant, and exemplative of the servant leader’s way, he was a goliath of goodness. Busy as he was, caring always for so many, somehow he always made me feel like I was the most important person on his mind. Life is a team sport, he used to say. I am grateful that he chose me to be one his life’s teammates.
At the service we heard about Royce the Legend. His athletic exploits at Montclair High School and then at Princeton are the stuff of dreams. He was a hero of the memorable 13-0 Princeton victory over Yale in 1955, scoring the first touchdown. But we also heard about what was actually more important to him: selfless service to others.
This reminded me of two pithy utterances that mark the measure of this fine man. A Camp Dudley boy, Royce once told me the camp’s timeless motto, which so epitomized his own life: “The other fellow first.” Late in life, when I once came to worship with him at his Trinity Church in South River, New Jersey, I asked what he was now doing to keep himself busy. His characteristic response: “Meeting needs.”
If I ever get to heaven, one of the first I’ll seek out will be Royce Flippin. He won’t be hard to find. Knowing Royce, he will likely be right there at the Pearly Gate, with that twinkle in his eye, reaching out to make me feel special and help me settle in.