The passing of Dr. Bob SchutzRelease Date: 06/11/2015We are sad to announce that our colleague and friend, Dr. Bob Schutz, University of Texas at Austin/Center for Space Research (CSR) passed away on June 7, 2015, surrounded by family.

Bob was a member of the faculty at the University of Texas since 1969. His research interests included space geodesy and its applications, space geodetic instrumentation, precise orbit determination, orbital mechanics, mission planning and computational techniques. He was the science team leader for NASA's Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), an instrument used to measure topography, especially the changes in Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, that operated on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) in Earth's orbit for seven years.

Bob was recently elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and he was a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Astronautical Society. Most recently, he held the Joe J. King Chair in Engineering and the FSX Professorship in Space Applications and Exploration at the University of Texas at Austin. Bob was also a special friend of the IAG Services, participating in many activities over the years and giving advice both in the early days and through recent years. His IAG contributions including being a co-founder of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), and being closely involved in the IGS (International GPS Service, now the International GNSS Service) since its inception in the early 1990s, serving most recently on the ILRS Governing Board.

Bob was a cherished colleague, a Ph.d advisor, mentor and a fine gentleman. His legacy will be appreciated for many years to come. We wish to pass on our condolences to Bob’s family, friends, and colleagues around the world. We will truly miss him.