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Because he has been an active participant for years in the Travel Interest Group's trips, David Kincaid was only natural for him to take on the duties of co-chair this year when the  group needed a new leader.

David may have retired in 2004. but he still maintains an active professional life, publishing scientific articles and attending national and international conferences. Most recently, he completed an undergraduate textbook, "Linear Algebra: Theory and Applications" with retired mathematics Professor Ward Cheney.  The duo has also collaborated on two other books for college students, "Numerical Mathematics and Computing," an undergraduate textbook now in its sixth edition, and "Numerical Analysis," a graduate textbook in its third edition.

Born in Fort Worth, David grew up in Beaumont, where he received a B.S. in mathematics from Lamar University in 1965.  From there, he came to UT for his master's and doctorate degrees, finishing in 1971. During his graduate school days, David worked first as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Mathematics and then as a Computer Programmer in the Computation Center. Though his degrees were in mathematics, he worked extensively in computing and his first post-graduate job was teaching in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. Missing Texas, he returned to UT and has been here ever since. At UT, David was the Associate Director and then the Interim Director of the research Center for Numerical Analysis, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Sciences, and a Research Scientist in the Computation Center. He had a long-time working association with mathematics and computer sciences Professor David M. Young. 

Since he started working on computers at UT, David has seen many radical changes. His first computer programs were written using punched cards on computer systems that filled a large room. At that time, the UT Department of Computer Sciences did not exist, nor did interactive computing, the Internet, or the World Wide Web.  In  1967, the Computation Center obtained a CDC 6600 computer making UT the first American university with a supercomputer.  (UT originally bought this system with the aid of an National Science Foundation equipment grant for more than a million dollars.)   David noted that the speed and capacity of that computer system was less than that on today's desk top computers costing only a few hundred dollars.  Through the years David has specialized in parallel scientific computing using supercomputers.

Among his honors was being recognized by NASA in 1981 for his work on developing a system of standardized procedures called BLAS (Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms) with a team of other scientists  from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Washington State University.  David points out that the BLAS are still being used on computer systems throughout the world, and they have evolved with each new development in computer architecture.

While he keeps up his professional activities, David also maintains an avid interest in sports, both as a participant and as a spectator. Several times a week, he can be found on the tennis courts playing men's doubles. David roots for the Longhorns at all home football games, at both the men's and women's basketball events, and at the women's volleyball games.

David's other love is travel, and he has gone with the RFSA Travel Group to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nova Scotia, as well as taking part in a number of their day trips such going to see the fall colors at Lost Maples, to watch the eagles near Llano, to pet the miniature horses near Brenham, and for wine tasting at Driftwood.

Since he has been a long time member of the Travel Advisory Group, it was a perfect fit for him to assume a leadership role, along with Del Taebel, in planning further RFSA expeditions.