Paul M. Routly *51

Paul Routly, an astrophysicist, died of congestive heart failure May 2, 2014. He was 88.

Routly graduated from McGill in 1947 with two degrees (one in pure and applied mathematics and another in theoretical physics). This attracted the attention of Professor Lyman Spitzer *38, director of the Princeton Observatory, and Routly came to Princeton, earning a Ph.D. in astrophysics in 1951.

After Princeton, he had fellowships at the Canadian Research Council and Caltech. In 1954, he began teaching astronomy at Pomona College, where he co-founded the Summer Science Program, an immersion program for gifted high school students.

Leaving Pomona in 1962, Routly became the first executive director of the American Astronomical Society, then headquartered in Princeton. In 1966, he became the head of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Division of the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. He worked there until he suffered a disabling stroke in 1986, resulting in a medical discharge. After years of rehabilitation, he became a volunteer at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, assisting the senior curator in the space history department.

Routly is survived by Angelina, his wife of 62 years; and two daughters.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.