Trinity Remembers Gordon MacAlpine

Gordon MacAlpine, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, died on October 13, 2024, after a five-month battle with brain cancer.

An ardent and articulate environmentalist and ten-year resident of Estes Park, Colorado, Gordon was proud to say that he was born in Montana, though he spent most of his childhood in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, where he majored in physics and excelled as a cross-country and track runner. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Wisconsin.  

Following a year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, Gordon taught astronomy at the University of Michigan for 28 years. His popular class for undergraduate non-science majors enrolled thousands of students during his career, while his research on quasars was recognized internationally. After retiring from the University of Michigan, he spent the next 13 years as the Charles A. Zilker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Trinity University, where he taught astronomy and physics and developed a class on environmental physics for students whose major was outside the sciences. Perhaps his proudest teaching moment came at the end of his last class when he apologized to the students for not being able to give them hope for the future because of the ongoing destruction of our environment. The class responded by chanting, “We are the hope!”—a declaration that he fervently hoped would eventually come to pass.

During his time in Estes Park, Gordon served on the Community Garden Board of Directors through its formative years, co-founded the local branch of the Sierra Club, formed the Estes Valley Clean Energy Coalition, provided astronomical and environmental lectures at the Estes Park Memorial Observatory, and served on the Board of the Estes Valley Watershed Coalition. He chaired the Estes Park 2021 Environmental Sustainability Task Force as it researched and provided extensive recommendations to move the town forward environmentally. Gordon was known as a rabble-rouser by some and a hero by others for being able to articulate the problems and research their potential solutions. He spoke and wrote about his fight for the environment, not for himself but for his grandchildren.

Gordon’s family is grateful for the support of the hospice community that allowed him to be home during his final days. He will be remembered with smiles and a lifetime of wild stories by his wife, Barbara; daughter, Sara; and son, Patrick. He treasured his two granddaughters; his son-in-law, Lee; brother, Ian; and sister, Mary; and he appreciated a large extended family of his relatives and Barbara’s. He was preceded in death by his brother, David, and sister, Heather. He is especially missed by Bowie, his best canine hiking buddy.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Friends Service Committee or an environmental organization of your choice. An outdoor memorial service is planned for early Summer 2025 in Estes Park.