James Lloyd, a Cornell University professor whose work connected astronomy, scientific instruments and spacecraft engineering, died July 15 in Ithaca at age 55.
Lloyd joined Cornell's astronomy faculty in 2004 and was appointed to the mechanical and aerospace engineering faculty in 2012, according to a university obituary published Aug. 3.
His research focused on extrasolar planets and the instruments used to study them. Lloyd served as principal investigator on several Cornell satellite missions and collaborated on concepts including a student-built satellite for ultraviolet analysis of exoplanets and a small satellite designed to study zodiacal dust.
Colleagues said Lloyd combined an experimental approach to astrophysics with a strong commitment to teaching. He championed aperture masking interferometry, a technique used to observe faint companions such as planets near distant stars; a version of the instrument is deployed on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Lloyd maintained the Hartung-Boothroyd Observatory as a teaching facility and led an undergraduate laboratory. His graduate and postdoctoral students went on to faculty positions at institutions including Boston University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Tarapaca in Chile.
Born in Vienna in 1971, Lloyd grew up in Australia and spent part of his childhood abroad. He earned a physics degree from the University of New South Wales in 1994 and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002 before completing postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology.
His honors included a NASA Group Achievement Award in 2018 and recognition as a Cornell University Outstanding Educator in 2009. Lloyd also spent two winters at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and received the U.S. Navy Antarctica Service Medal with Gold Winterover Bar.
Outside Cornell, Lloyd volunteered with Greek Peak Adaptive Snowsports and Special Olympics New York, helping children with disabilities learn to ski. He is survived by his wife, Aoise Stratford, and children Rowena, Gwendolyn and Hugo.
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