Rolf Buchanan Dyce

1929 - 2019

Rolf Buchanan Dyce

Ithaca - Rolf B. Dyce passed away peacefully at home with his loving wife, Carole, by his side on March 11, 2019, in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He was 89.

Not only was Rolf adored by his family and appreciated by so many in his community, he made notable contributions to the fields of radar astronomy and electrical engineering during his scientific career. He was a radar astronomer for Cornell University's Arecibo Observatory, and chief scientist for Equatorial, one of the first wireless communications technology companies.

Rolf was born on October 12, 1929, in Guelph, Ontario, the first child of Evelyn Buchanan Dyce and Elton James Dyce. His sister, Marilyn, was born three years later. The Dyce family moved to Ithaca, New York, in 1940, when Rolf's father took a position as a professor of entomology at Cornell University, where he was a noted expert on honey bees and established the Cornell Dyce Laboratory for Honey Bee Studies. Rolf attended Ithaca High School (Class of '47), followed by Cornell University where he earned a B.A. in Physics in 1951, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1955.

For his graduate work, he experimented with the reflection of VHF radio waves from the aurora borealis. From 1955 to 1957, Rolf served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force at the Griffiss Air Force Base in the Rome, New York. In July 1957 he moved to California to join Stanford Research Institute where he worked on classified research including auroral, meteor, and lunar studies, satellite radar echoes, high-altitude nuclear weapons effects on the ionosphere, and the electromagnetic effects of missile flight. He married his first wife Sherry in 1959.

In January 1964, Rolf joined the staff of Cornell University's newly constructed Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory in Puerto Rico, the world's largest radio telescope at that time. Rolf was named associate director of the Arecibo Observatory in 1965. Here he conducted radar studies of the surface of the moon and the behavior of Mercury, Venus, and Mars (including their rotation and position in the solar system). With his colleagues, he made a significant contribution to improving scientific knowledge of the Astronomical Unit, a measure of the scale of our solar system, critical to the subsequent navigation of spacecraft to other planets. In 1978, Rolf left the Observatory to become Chief Scientist of Equatorial Communications, a start-up company based in Sunnyvale, California. He retired to Puerto Rico in 1993 where he enjoyed living in a tropical paradise and many pursuits such as the hiking, swimming, sailing, tuning pianos, helping neighbors, and volunteering for community causes.

Rolf is survived by Carole Dyce, his wife of 30 years; daughter Karen Dyce (husband Dave); son Eric Dyce (wife Betsy); two grandsons, Alex and Gavin Dyce; two stepsons, Adam Craft (wife Beth) and David Craft (wife Mandy); and four granddaughters, Anna, Karina, Celia, and Helen. A celebration of Rolf's life was held in Puerto Rico with close friends in the community. His family, friends, neighbors and colleagues will miss his welcoming attitude, pursuit of knowledge and jovial spirit.