Douglas Duncan

Dr. Douglas Duncan is an esteemed astronomer at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he serves as the director of Fiske Planetarium, recognized as the most advanced planetarium in the United States. He holds degrees from Caltech and the University of California and was instrumental in the groundbreaking project that identified sunspot cycles on other stars. His career includes a significant tenure with the Hubble Space Telescope, and in 1992, he took a joint appointment at the University of Chicago and Adler Planetarium, where he initiated a modernization trend for planetariums that has influenced facilities across major cities including New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Boulder. Dr. Duncan has provided science commentary for National Public Radio and currently contributes to Colorado Public Radio. In recognition of his excellence in education, he received the Richard Emmons Award for Outstanding Astronomy Teacher in the U.S. in 2011. He is also the author of "Clickers in the Classroom," which explores innovative teaching technologies. As a former National Education Coordinator for the American Astronomical Society, he has advocated for enhanced teaching methods and public outreach in astronomy. With over 50 refereed publications to his name, Dr. Duncan's research includes studies funded by prestigious organizations such as NASA and the National Science Foundation, with his latest work examining the relationship between student texting habits and academic performance.