Thomas L. Vincent, PhD/AE 1963, died Oct. 26, 2009, from pancreatic cancer at age 74.

He was born in Portland, Ore., in 1935 and was the first graduate of the UA’s doctoral program in aerospace engineering.

He was a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at UA for 41 years until his retirement in 2001, after which he became an active professor emeritus.

Since 1999, he had been involved in the Shadow research project. Shadow is an autonomous underwater vehicle that can track an octopus equipped with a sonic tag.

The project originated in response to interest from villagers in the area affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The residents of Tatitlek and Chenega Bay, in Prince William Sound, eat octopuses as part of their subsistence lifestyle and had reported that octopuses became scarce in the years following the oil spill.

He was the faculty advisor for a student team developing the platform and designing the thrusters, buoyancy controls and stabilizers that allow Shadow to move through the water. UA’s research partners in the Shadow project are Alaska Pacific University and the Colorado School of Mines.

Vincent’s research interests centered on optimal control and game theory, and he contributed to more than 150 books and articles in that field. He was a committed environmentalist, and served as president of the Tucson Mountain Association and treasurer of the Friends of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.