David Rubincam

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David P. Rubincam (born February 27, 1947) is an American geophysicist who studies Earth and other planets. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland in 1973 and worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center from 1978 to 2018. Early in his career he studied Earth's rotation, tidal friction, and geodynamics using satellites. Later he showed how heat from the Sun can affect the spin of small asteroids, introducing the YORP effect in 2000. He also contributed to understanding long-term climate variations on planets. In 2015, the asteroid 9921 Rubincam was named in his honor. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He lives in Lanham, Maryland, and is the son of genealogist Milton Rubincam.