Sumner Grosby Starrfield (born 29 December 1940) is an American astronomer.
Starrfield earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1] He began teaching at Arizona State University in 1972,[2] and was later named a Regents' Professor at the institution.[3] In 1999, Starrfield was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society "[f]or fundamental contributions to our understanding of the cause and evolution of the nova outburst involving forefront observational and theoretical studies of these explosions."[4] From 2002 to 2005, Starrfield was head of the publication board for the American Astronomical Society, and later ran for the vice presidency.[5] [6]
Starrfield is married to Susan Lee Hutt, with whom he raised three children.[7] [8] The minor planet 19208 Starrfield is named for him.