Dick's research passion was interstellar gas dynamics and the theory of cosmic X-ray sources. He has done research on the formation of interstellar bubbles by stellar winds and 'super-bubbles' formed by supernova explosions in galactic gas disks. His research on cosmic X-ray sources has dealt with, among other topics, the mechanism of the transformation of X-ray emission in the optical and UV range for neutron stars and black holes. In addition to theoretical calculations and computer simulations, he made observations using the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). Dick was also a lifelong learner; he spoke Mandarin and was an avid student of Chinese history and culture. Dick was a Guggenheim Fellow, member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1990 he received the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, and in 2002 he was awarded the National Science Foundation Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars.