Neil Divine

Theodore Neil Divine (1939–1994) was an American stellar astrophysicist and planetary scientist whose work centered on the understanding of star formation.

Early life and education Divine was born in Orlando, Florida and raised in Dorset, Vermont. He attended Eaglebrook School and Hebron Academy. Divine was the winner of the Hebron senior prize for scholarship. He also received prizes for outstanding performance in chemistry and mathematics. Divine lettered in swimming, was on the staff of the school newspaper, and was a member of the Glee Club and Record Club.

He completed a B.S. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1959. He earned a M.S. in physics from University of Michigan. Divine switched from astronomy to astrophysics while completing doctoral research at Caltech. In the summer of 1961, Divine worked in the planetary sciences division at the RAND Corporation. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy at Caltech in 1965 where he developed the first numerical model of the evolution of helium stars, before they were confirmed to exist. His dissertation was titled Structure and evolution of model helium stars. His doctoral advisor was John Beverley Oke. This research is part of current star formation theory.

Personal life Divine identified as gay and was a resident of Los Angeles. He died in 1994 of AIDS-related complications. Donations in Divine's name were made to AIDS Project Los Angeles.