Notice Board

The University of Lethbridge extends it sincere condolences to the family and friends of Gregory Tompkins, who recently passed away.

Tompkins was a longtime employee of the U of L who started as a research assistant in Physics in 1984. In 1986, he was hired as a technician for the Department of Physics and Astronomy and he was promoted to technical specialist in 1996. Working with Dr. David Naylor and the Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG), Tompkins provided technical support for electronic instrument control and data acquisition.

One of the highlights of this three-decades-long career was his design for a spectrometer circuit used on NASA’s infrared telescope in Hawaii. In 1999, Tompkins was involved in developing a novel type of spectrometer for use at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, also located in Hawaii. By 2003, this design was adopted by the European Space Agency for use in the Herschel Space Observatory mission. Tompkins was then involved in designing and building a spectrometer to validate the performance of the one to be flown on Herschel. After years of work and extensive consultation with scientists and engineers, Tompkins came up with a simple and elegant design. After the launch of the Herschel in 2009, Tompkins’ electronics were on standby in case they were needed to solve a problem that had occurred in space. It remained active until 2013. The spectrometer was to be returned to Canada once it was decommissioned but several groups wanted it to remain in Europe. It now has a home in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London. Tompkins also worked on designing and developing a control and data acquisition system for a spectrometer used for cancer detection.

During his time at the U of L, Tompkins mentored and trained more than 300 students. His name is mentioned in every master’s and doctoral thesis produced by students in the AIG and he is the co-author of numerous publications and international conference presentations.

“Greg will be deeply missed, not only for his electronic wizardry, but for his wit and irreverent spirit. His constant questioning of our scientific belief system made us all better scientists,” says Naylor.

A funeral service has been scheduled for Saturday, May 7 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Assumption church located at 2405 12 Ave. S. The U of L will lower the flag that day in honour of Tompkins.