Randolph "Randy" Scott Zounes passed away at the age of 57 on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Randy was born to William and Maryann Zounes in San Diego, California, in March of 1966. Having the good fortune of being "tied" for the youngest—his twin sister, Krissy, was born five minutes after him—Randy grew up in a stimulating environment largely brought about by his older siblings, Lisa, Billy, and Tommy. After the divorce of his parents in 1974, he spent the next seven years in Ocean Beach, where he attended Ocean Beach Elementary School and Collier Junior High School. During this time, his interest in the "impenetrable eternal questions" was greatly aroused and fueled by books like, Black Holes and Warped Spacetime, by William Kaufmann and The Mind's I, by Douglas Hofstadter. Learning about the mysteries of the world, both inner and outer, became a significant component of his life. Randy believed that such curiosity, as well as his work ethic instilled in him by his parents, was directly responsible for his success in school and, later, throughout his professional career.

In the spring of 1984, Randy graduated from University City High School as Valedictorian and Scholar-Athlete of the year, and started his undergraduate study at the University of California at Davis in the fall. Randy took many courses in Mathematics and Physics, anticipating graduate work in Theoretical Physics, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1989 with a B.S. in Physics. Although he took a year off after graduation and worked at an engineering-research firm in San Diego doing nuclear power plant fault tree analysis, he returned to school at Cornell University in 1990 to pursue a Ph.D. in Physics. In 1991, Randy switched fields to Applied Mathematics and, once coursework was complete, Randy began working on his doctoral dissertation. Unsure whether the research area would take him in the direction he wanted to go professionally, Randy took a sabbatical and returned to his hometown of San Diego to work and make some hard decisions about his next steps. As fate would have it, this decision would have a far more significant impact on his life than he realized.

Randy met Sherryl Cohen while on sabbatical in San Diego and, after a year-long courtship, married her in July of 1995. Shortly after, Randy returned to Ithaca, New York, with his new bride and fresh enthusiasm for his new dissertation topic. After many long months of diligent work and research, even if at times it meant "borrowing" computer processing time from his department head, which did not go unnoticed, Randy finally completed his doctoral dissertation, "An Analysis of the Nonlinear Quasiperiodic Mathieu Equation." Randy then successfully defended his dissertation before said department head and, in May of 1997, Randy fulfilled his long-time dream of earning his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics.

After graduation, Randy held several different jobs, which made good use of his mathematical, physics, and computer programming background. Over the years, Randy worked on a number of national missile defense programs. This career path reached its apex one day on Capitol Hill when Randy served as the technical expert in support of the Assistant Secretary of Defense during testimony before Congress. While thrilled and with a printed drink coaster to prove it, Randy's goal had always been to work on national defense in a much more hands-on way. In 2005, Randy actively pursued that goal when he began his new career in national security. He continued to "live the dream" in various capacities until his medical retirement in 2022 after 20 years and one day of service with the Federal government.

Throughout his career, whether for work or on holiday, Randy travelled extensively, including to over 30 countries and a good number of U.S. states. Randy also called many locations "home." After graduating from Cornell, Randy and Sherryl moved roughly every three years, from Ithaca, NY, to Alexandria, VA, to Huntsville and then Madison, AL, to Washington, DC, to Baltimore, MD, then internationally to Cheltenham and then Harrogate, England, to Wiesbaden, Germany, and finally back to Baltimore. After a lifetime of being on the go, in 2020, he proudly purchased a beautiful townhome where he was finally able to settle down with his beloved wife and two Persian cats, Cody and Emmy.

Randy is survived by his wife of 28 years, Sherryl Zounes; his mother Maryann Zounes, his stepmother Karen Zounes, his four siblings Elizabeth McElmell, William Zounes, Thomas Zounes, and Krisena Marchal; his two stepsiblings Michael Brunke and Laura Taylor; and a large extended family of aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, in-laws, cousins, and other relatives. Randy was predeceased by his father William Zounes.

Randy was known by many for his powerful intellect, fun- and peace-loving demeanor, playful sense of humor, loyalty, and tender heart. Randy loved and was loved. He will be sorely missed by many.