AURA Committees

Committee Charter (pdf)

Kimberly Andrews Espy

University of Texas at San Antonio

Caroline Garcia

University of Arizona 

Gregory L. Geoffroy

Iowa State University

Elizabeth Hoffman (Vice Chair) 

Iowa State University

Barbara Lam (ex officio) 

AURA

Duc Ma

University of Arizona

Warren Madden (Chair) 

Iowa State University 

Jerome Oglesby 

Ahead, Inc

Composition and Roles

The members of the AURA Board of Directors are ultimately responsible for the operation of AURA and the astronomical research Centers that it manages. The Board of Directors has and may exercise all of the powers of AURA and shall have charge, management, and control of the business and affairs of AURA. They approve (or delegate authority for approval of) AURA program plans, budget, and long-range plans, including those of the astronomical research Centers. They act as trustees for the mission of AURA, the efficient operation of the astronomical research Centers and the advancement of the astronomical sciences. As trustees, they bring to bear the perspectives of the astronomical community in general and of the university community in particular the Board’s oversight of the Centers. As individuals, the Board members work with the President and Corporate staff in dealing with the funding agencies and the AURA-managed Centers. As representatives of AURA at their home institutions, Board members gain understanding and support for the national centers among their colleagues and administrators.

Andrew Baker

Rutgers University

Elizabeth Barton

Infiniscape Incorporated

Karen Bjorkman

University of Toledo

James Crocker (Vice Chair)

Lockheed Martin retired

Roger Davies

University of Oxford

Megan Donahue

Michigan State University

Maura Hagan (Chair)

Utah State University retired

Jeff Hall

SOC Chair
Lowell Observatory

Todd Hoeksema

W.W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
Stanford University

Dan Jaffe

University of Texas

Matt Mountain (ex officio)

AURA

Sally Oey

University of Michigan

Jerome Oglesby

Ahead, Inc

David Reitze

NMOC Chair
LIGO Laboratory
California Institute of Technology

Willie Rockward

STIC Chair
Morgan State University

Maria Teresa Ruiz

Departamento de Astronomia
Universidad de Chile

James H. Yeck

AMCR Chair
Brookhaven National Laboratory

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Council Charter (pdf)

The AMCR provides oversight and advocacy for the management of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Roger Blandford

Stanford University

Tulika Bose

Univ Wisconsin Madison

Brenna Flaugher

Fermilab

Matthew Graham

California Institute of Technology

Paulina Lira

University de Chile

Allison Lung

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

David MacFarlane

Particle Physics and Astrophysics
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Rachel Mandelbaum

Carnegie Mellon

Patrick McCarthy (ex officio)

NSF’s NOIRLab

Joe McMullin (Vice Chair)

Square Kilometre Array Organisation

Matt Mountain (ex officio)

AURA

Connie Rockosi

University of California Santa Cruz

Michael Wood-Vasey

University of Pittsburgh

James Yeck (Chair)

University of Wisconsin
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Council Charter (pdf)

The NMOC and each of its members are trustees and advocates to the AURA Board for the mission of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. The NMOC provides stewardship and management oversight of NSF’s NOIRLab and gives support and advice to AURA on important policy and management matters.

Kelle Cruz

Hunter College

Sean Dougherty

Atacama Large Millimeter Array

Francisco Forster

Universidad de Chile
Millennium Institute for Astrophysics

Jeff Kern

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Jennifer Marshall

Texas A&M University

Matt Mountain (ex officio)

AURA

Jim Oschmann

Retired

David Reitze (Chair)

LIGO Laboratory
California Institute of Technology

Elizabeth Sexton-Kennedy

Fermilab

Lisa Storrie-Lombardi

Las Cumbres Observatory

John Troeltzsch

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation

Doug Welch

McMaster University

Felipe Barrientos

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Joan Burkepile

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

John Cartwright

ICEYE

Joe Shields

Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Sarah Tuttle

University of Washington

Nicolle Zellner

Albion College

Michael Zwick

Rutgers

Council Charter (pdf)

The SOC provides oversight for the National Solar Observatory (NSO).

Doug Biesecker

National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration

Emily CoBabe-Ammann

University of Colorado at Boulder

Jeff Hall (Chair)

Lowell Observatory

Feng-Chuan Liu

TMT International Observatory

Dale Gary

New Jersey Institute of Technology

James Mason

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

Sarah Matthews

University College London

Matt Mountain (ex officio)

AURA

Kathy Reeves

CFA Harvard

Alan Tokunaga

University of Hawaiʻi

Saku Tsuneta

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Christine Wiedinmyer (Vice Chair)

University of Colorado at Boulder

Council Charter (pdf)

STIC provides oversight and advocacy for the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

Scott Altman

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Federal

James Bullock

University of California Irvine

Joan Higginbotham

Joan Higginbotham AdAstra, LLC

Prof. Bruce Macintosh

University of California Observatories

David Mongeau

University of Texas San Antonio

Matt Mountain (ex officio)

AURA

Willie Rockward (Chair)

Morgan State University

Ed Schlesinger

Johns Hopkins University

Linda Tacconi

Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik

Jessica Werk

University of Washington

Michael Wise

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research