James R. Houck

Jim designed the first Rockwell 10-detector array we used on the C-141 and Lear Jet spectrometers. My thermal image at 2.2 microns employs many more pixels in an SBRC InSb array.

It was an honor to study and work under Jim around the end of the millennium. His engaging teaching style inspired a generation of space scientists and engineers including this one. His ability to convey the enormity of the universe to his students was one of my most vivid memories I have of his class as a sophomore and what made me fall in love with astronomy. You could imagine my excitement when he hired me as an intern for two years to help build one of his IR cameras. This remains to...

It was only after several years of working in the space science industry that I realized the full value of studying under Jim and working with the IR group. I needed that exposure to realize how unique and deep his science and engineering talents were. Jim was a great mentor and teacher. He taught in such subtle ways that for years, when faced with a difficult problem, I'd ask myself 'how would Jim solve this?'. I am very grateful for my time with Jim and Cornell and cherish my memories. My...

Dear Chris, Rob and families,
We were sorry to hear about the passing of your dad. We knew him as a loving, supportive and proud husband to your late mother and father to you. What a legacy of accomplishments he has left you and the world! May he rest in peace.
With deepest sympathy,
Al and Barb Cappucci and Debora Burke

I worked with Jim Houck for six years (2002-08) on the IRS Instrument Team at Cornell. Jim was the driving force behind the IRS and of much of the entire SIRTF/Spitzer satellite mission on which it flew. He was a quietly brilliant man with an immense range of skills. As well as managing a team of 40+ people (at its largest) he handled the complex bureaucracies of both the Cornell and the NASA parts of the mission and yet at the same time continued to publish his own research, taught...

Of the many quotable moments that I experienced over my six years as one of Jim's graduate students was during our very first observing trip together. One of the Mt. Lemmon staff members brought his girlfriend up the mountain for dinner and she asked a lot of pointed questions, including how we could justify spending all this time, effort and money doing astronomy. Jim's considered reply was that of all the news stories in a newspaper, the only unfailingly positive ones are the latest...

Jim's acumen as a scientist was very clear very soon after meeting him. He was smart and clever and made a world of difference in the field of infrared astronomy. Perhaps his greatest strength was to inspire others to join in and add to his scientific enterprise. I believe I was his first postdoc, and we did a lot of good science in my years with him. And it was fun, and productive. He showed me his compassionate side when I experienced a life threatening event on a Lear Jet flight to measure...

Jim set a great example for a couple of generations of astronomers and instrument-builders: he was brilliant, utterly sensible, and certainly the cleverest experimental physicist I have ever met. But it's his kindness and good humor toward, and advocacy for, his younger colleagues that I'll miss the most. The scientific teams he built and fostered were models of camaraderie and mutual support as well as productivity. I've been working with Jim for almost three and a half decades, have enjoyed...

Jim's was the very first class I attended as a Cornell freshman and he was the first to offer me a summer job in the Astronomy Department following my sophomore year. I learned many things from Jim, not the least being that serious research can and should be fun and the fun I had working for Jim played a big part in my decision to pursue astronomy. His intuition and infectious smile will be lasting memories. However, more than a teacher, Jim was a friend. As fellow Pittsburghers, we...