Image of Roger Phillips

Virtual Celebration of Life for Roger Phillips

A Celebration of Life is planned in memory of Roger Phillips on Monday, January 11, 3:00-4:30 CST.

Roger Phillips, faculty member of Washington University and former director of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, passed away on November 19.  Please join us for a celebration of Roger's life on Monday, January 11, 3:00-4:30 CST.  Several of his close colleagues, PhD advisees, and postdoctoral fellows that Roger mentored will give brief talks and an opportunity will be available at the end for participants to comment.  

Roger joined the faculty of Washington University in 1992.  He succeeded Robert Walker as the Director of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences in 1999 and served until 2007. He was a professor of geophysics in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and he was among the preeminent planetary geophysicists of his time. His research included geophysical characterization, especially using radar and gravity, to determine the interior structure of the solid planets. Roger's early work was on the interior structure of the Moon, and later, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the G. K Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America and the Whipple Award from the American Geophysical Union. His students and coworkers, including from the time he was at Washington University, are now among the leaders in the field and carry on his legacy. 

In addition to his stature as a planetary scientist, Roger was a fine human being and touched many lives.  He will be well remembered.  We hope you will join his colleagues and his family to celebrate the life of Roger Phillips.