I am a tenured Professor of Astronomy at the University of Maryland in College Park, now Emeritus (retired, as of July 1, 2025). I joined the Department of Astronomy in August 2000. Born in Canada, I became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2008. I have a B.Sc. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of British Columbia (1990) and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge (1993). My first postdoctoral position was at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Toronto (1993 to 1996). I then spent 3 years as a postdoc in the Astronomy Department at the University of Washington in Seattle, followed by 1 year there as a Research Assistant Professor before moving to Maryland.
My research interests include computational astrophysics, planet formation, planetary ring dynamics, asteroid evolution, and granular dynamics. As a theorist, I'm a faculty member of our department's Center for Theory and Computation. Before retirement, I was also the contact person for the scientific cooperation agreement with Côte d'Azur Observatory. I was the Dynamics Working Group lead in support of the DART mission, part of the AIDA collaboration.
In addition to my research and teaching duties, I provided service functions to the department and university. Most recently I was Chair of the Learning Technology Working Group and a Member of the DIT HPCC Allocations Advisory Committee.
My latest curriculum vitae (CV) is available here (long format, PDF). It is updated periodically (less so now that I am retired).
In 2002, Asteroid 12566 Derichardson was named in my honor, which is totally cool.
My hobbies include birding and gaming.
