Professor F. Richard Stephenson (born 1941) is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Durham, in the Physics department and the East Asian Studies department. His research concentrates on historical aspects of astronomy, in particular analyzing ancient astronomical records to reconstruct the history of Earth's rotation. He has an asteroid named after him: 10979 Fristephenson. His most famous book is Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation (Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN ).