"Rick" married Vivian Cecil Gearhart, a daughter of Josephine Lois Spade. He earned the rank of Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a veteran of WWII. He earned his Masters in Physics at Cornell University and later finished up his Ph.D in Physics at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. As the Dean of the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School, he was affiliated with the U.S. Navy for most of his career.