Background
Duncan, Robert Clifton was born on November 21, 1923 in Jonesville, Virginia, United States. Son of Robley Evans and Selva (Cooney) Duncan.
Duncan, Robert Clifton was born on November 21, 1923 in Jonesville, Virginia, United States. Son of Robley Evans and Selva (Cooney) Duncan.
He received Bachelor of Science degrees from the United States Naval Academy (1945) and the Naval Postgraduate School (1953), and Mississippi and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1951).
He is best known for two of the programs he directed to a successful completion - guidance and control for Apollo program, and the Polaroid SX-70 camera. He served in the United States Navy from 1946 to 1965. He was trained as a pilot, and flew both fighters and heavy attack bombers.
He served in the Pentagon from 1960 to 1964, first as chief of space programs for the Chief of Naval Operations, and next as staff assistant director for research and engineering.
When he retired from the Navy in 1965, he had been assigned to National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Houston, Texas, at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center). During his three years there he was chief of the Guidance and Control Division.
After that, he spent a year back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as assistant director of the Electronics Research Center. He then left the government in 1968, to become a vice president of the Polaroid Corporation, spending the next spent seven years there.
He first served as program manager of the SX-70 camera, with responsibilities for its design, engineering, and production.
In 1975, he was elected vice president of engineering. He returned to government employment from 1985 to 1993. His first position was as Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
A year later, was confirmed in a dual capacity, becoming simultaneously Director of Defense Research and Engineering.
His final role in the Pentagon was a four-year tour as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, where he was principal advisor to both the Secretary of Defense and the Under-Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions. He retired from the government in 1993, and became a vice president at Hicks and Associates (a national security consultanting firm).
Memberships and
(Book by Duncan, Robert Clifton)
District chairman Norumbega council Boy Scouts American, Weston, Massachusetts, 1969-1972, executive board, Waban, Massachusetts, 1969-1985. Member industrial and professional advisory council Pennsylvania State University, 1973-1978. Deacon Trinitarian Congregation Church, Wayland, Massachusetts, 1981-1985.
Trustee Forsyth Dental Center, Boston, 1967-1985. President Polaroid Foundation, Cambridge, 1978-1982. Member National Academy Engineering.
Married Rosemary Fleming, March 19, 1949. Children: Melissa, Babette Duncan Wilson, Robert, Scott.