Charles ENGELBRACHT

ENGELBRACHT, Charles Charles (Chad) William Engelbracht of Tucson, Arizona was born on March 28, 1970, in Yonkers, New York. He passed away January 8, 2014 and is survived by his loving wife of 20 years, Suzanne Dubuque, his children Max (age 8), Sydney (age 3.5) and Henry (age 3.5); his mother JoAnne Taylor of Dahlonega, Georgia sister Kathy Barker of Roswell, Georgia and brother, James Engelbracht of Marietta, Georgia. Able to read books independently by the age of three, Chad exhibited a very early interest in outer space. Viewing the constellations from his backyard in Connecticut, he told the family that he was going there one day, pointing to the stars. From that early age of four, his interest and pursuit of his eventual career as an astronomer never wavered. Chad earned his own way through many years of higher education thanks to academic scholarships, grants and a NASA fellowship. In his teens and twenties Chad was an avid outdoorsman, frequently mountain biking, hiking, stargazing, camping and generally enjoying nature wherever his scholarship and travel took him. Chad enjoyed a variety of hobbies but probably none as much as computer gaming and no, he could not tell you with any certainty how frequently a Quake server was active at Steward Observatory during his tenure. In 1997, Chad obtained a Ph.D. in Astronomy at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. His thesis topic was pioneering observations and modeling of starburst galaxies. As a graduate student, Chad led the development of the data pipeline for a near infrared spectrometer (FSPEC) that made it one of the most productive instruments of its kind. Chad then became the MIPS Instrument Scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope. In this position, he was Steward's lead contact to the Spitzer Science Center. Chad was author or co-author of 159 papers in astronomy. Two of the most influential areas that he led were on the behavior of the mid-IR aromatic bands in nearby galaxies, and his thesis papers on starburst modeling. Chad had a quiet personal style. When asked to carry out a task, one normally heard nothing more about it and became suspicious that nothing was happening, but always found that he was working it efficiently and diligently and it was near solution. His style made everyone (but especially his supervisors) vulnerable to his wonderful sense of humor that would sneak up and zing you with something really funny. He was a role model for younger scientists; one postdoc working with him used to say: "When I grow up I want to be just like Chad." After a successful career in Astronomy, Chad chose to embark on a new career challenge by joining Raytheon Missile Systems in 2012 as a Principal Multi-disciplined Engineer, where he contributed to radiometric calibration of the latest sensors for missile defense. He continued to publish his astronomy work and was honored at the Raytheon Missile Systems Authors and Inventors Banquet for his technical publications. He will be greatly missed by his co-workers who appreciated his professionalism and his quiet sense of humor. Chad was a wonderful father and devoted husband. Despite significant physical disabilities caused by chronic illness, Chad's first thoughts were always about how he could give his all for his growing family. He not only insisted on working full-time to support the family but he always found that extra bit of energy to be horsey, wrestler, swordfighter and all around kid-centered gamer, cheerleader and quiet companion for his very energetic children. Losing Chad leaves us all sorely missing his gentle humanity, loyal friendship, wacky sense of humor, valued technical skills and brilliant mind but so very grateful that we have had the opportunity to know him. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his name may be made to the National Audubon Society.