Dr. David D. Lynch, a world-renowned physicist and “Father of the Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope” (HRG), died at the age of 85 on April 8, 2020, in his Santa Barbara home of 49 years surrounded by his loving family. The HRG system, whose development Dr. Lynch began in 1965, guided the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn. A replica HRG sensor is on display at The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
Dr. Lynch earned his BS in physics at Tufts University (1956), and an AM in physics (1959) and PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard University (1967). David was an instructor of physics at Tufts (1959 – 1963) and a teaching assistant at Harvard (1963 – 1964) before he accepted a position in 1964 at the Boston Lab of AC Spark Plug, a division of General Motors, to work on the development of gyros and accelerometers for inertial navigation systems. It was here that David developed the HRG “wine glass gyroscope”, an integral part of the Cassini navigational system, now widely used in navigation systems around the world.
Northrop Grumman called Dr. Lynch out of retirement in 2001 to work as a consultant, a position he continued until 2019. In March 2004, Northrop Grumman dedicated their space gyroscope manufacturing facility to Dr. Lynch, naming their Woodland Hills lab The David D. Lynch Hemispherical Resonator Gyro Manufacturing Center. David’s lifelong passion for reading and learning produced his encyclopedic knowledge of world history and his ability to read, write, and converse in several languages. Always a teacher at heart, David spent time during retirement composing and presenting an informal set of lectures on the Theory of Relativity and cosmology. Dr. Lynch was an accomplished classical pianist and had a lifetime interest in piano performance. Taught to play by his father, he also studied under Adelaide Banashinski at the Wisconsin College Conservatory, with Reginald Stewart at the Music Academy of the West, and finally with Betty Oberacker at UCSB where he received a second bachelor’s degree in music in 1986. He enjoyed performing monthly recitals with his beloved Piano Group for many decades.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, on May 22, 1934 to Carol and James Lynch, the family relocated to Penacook, NH, in 1940, where David attended high school and met his life partner and loving wife, Lorene Perkins. David enjoyed many activities with his wife of 65 years, including tennis at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club, and duplicate bridge at the Santa Barbara Bridge Center. However, central to their life was their love of their family with whom they got together at every possible occasion. David is survived by his wife, Lorene, his children, Coleen Barker (and husband, Keston), Christopher Lynch (and wife, Anne), Kimberly Lynch, and Jonathan Lynch (and wife, Laura), his seven grandchildren, Justin Williams, Savannah and Brenna Barker, Brian, Sean and Connor Lynch, Jonathan Patrick Lynch, and four great-grandchildren, Aedan Williams-Skellern, and Logan, Sierra and Simon Lynch.
