Derek Albert Tidman

Derek Albert Tidman, an irrepressibly enthusiastic physicist and a loving and dearly loved husband and father, passed away on 24 May 2019 at his home in McLean, Virginia. He was 88 years old.

Tidman was born in 1930 in London. He obtained his PhD in physics from the University of London in March 1956 and a Diploma of Imperial College of Science and Technology in May 1956. Following his education, he became an assistant professor at the Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago in 1957. From 1960 to 1980, he was a research professor in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. He also consulted with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on space plasmas and with the US Department of Energy on inertial thermonuclear fusion.

In 1980 Tidman left academia to establish GT-Devices Inc, a mass-acceleration laboratory focusing on electrothermal and electromagnetic launchers. GT-Devices was acquired as a subsidiary of General Dynamics in 1989. Tidman stayed on with GT-Devices for a period of time following the acquisition and then retired in 1990. Then, during his “retirement,” he invented transformative technology in his mass accelerator, the Slingatron, which he developed and resourced himself in his last company, Advanced Launch Corporation.

Over his career, Tidman directed 10 doctoral theses, authored and co-authored four books and over 130 scientific journal papers, and was an inventor on dozens of patents. In addition to his remarkable contributions as a physicist, Tidman inspired and progressed his family and others with his generosity and humility. He leaves behind the love of his life and wife of 60 years, Pauline Tidman, daughter Katherine Blee, and son Mark Tidman, as well as his sister Doreen Wootton and brother Keith Tidman. He was preceded in death by his brother Clifford Tidman. He also leaves behind his four grandchildren, Anna Ault, J.D. Ault, Lily Tidman, and Owen Tidman.