Logos of AURA's 52 Member Institutions with AURA's logo in the center.
Logos of AURA’s 52 Member Institutions Credit: AURA/S. Lifson

AURA was founded in 1957, with the encouragement of the National Science Foundation, by a group of U.S. universities with a common interest to create astronomical observing facilities that would be available for use by all qualified researchers from U.S. institutions and universities on the basis of scientific merit.

Today, there are 49 U.S. Member Institutions and 3 International Affiliate Members which comprise the Member Institutions of AURA. The President of each Member Institution designates a Member Representative and Alternate (listed below) who have a voice in AURA matters. Together, the Member Representatives act upon membership applications, elect new members to AURA’s governing bodies, and serve on AURA committees.

Member Representatives attend the AURA Annual Meeting held every April In Tucson, Arizona to participate in elections, and discuss topics pertinent to AURA and the profession of astronomy.

Affiliation with a Member Institution is not required for receiving research time on the federally funded telescopes AURA manages. AURA’s Centers award telescope time through a merit-based process.

Membership policy, guidelines and process documents (PDFs):

AURA Membership Policy

U.S. Membership Guidelines

Guidelines for International Members

Application Process

AURA Member Institutions and Representatives


* denotes founding member
** denotes international affiliate member
Member Institution Year Member Representative Alternate MR
Boston University 1993 Prof. Catherine Espaillat Dr. JJ Hermes
California Institute of Technology 1972 Dr. Lynne Hillenbrand Dr. Andrew Howard
Carnegie Institution for Science 1997 Dr. Mark Phillips Dr. John Mulchaey
Carnegie Mellon University 2017 Dr. Frederick Gilman Prof. Matthew Walker
Cornell University 2016 Prof. James Lloyd Prof. Dmitry Savransky
Fisk University 2010 Dr. Kent Wallace Dr. Arnold Burger
Georgia State University 2008 Dr. Misty Bentz Dr. Dan Cox
Harvard University * 1957 Prof. Lisa Kewley Prof. Edo Berger
Indiana University * 1957 TBD Dr. Rick Van Kooten
Iowa State University 1992 Dr. Steven Kawaler Dr. Jake Simon
Johns Hopkins University 1982 Dr. Kevin Schlaufman Dr. Timothy Heckman
Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium 2018 Prof. Seth Redfield Prof. Colette Salyk
Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS) ** 2016 Prof. Hardi Peter Dr. Jo Bruls
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1981 Assistant Prof. Andrew Vanderburg Associate Prof. Anna Frebel
Michigan State University 1997 Dr. Jay Strader Dr. Mark Voit
Montana State University 2005 Dr. Dana Longcope Dr. Jiong Qiu
New Jersey Institute of Technology 2010 Dr. Dale Gary Prof. Andrew Gerrard
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 2018 Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakman Dr. Van Romero
New Mexico State University 1999 Dr. Robert James McAteer Dr. Chris Churchill
Ohio State University * 1957 Dr. Patrick Osmer Dr. Smita Mathur
Pennsylvania State University 1990 Dr. Suvrath Mahadevan Dr. Jason Wright
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile ** 1997 Dr. Felipe Barrientos Dr. Claudia Aguilera Gómez
Princeton University 1959 Dr. Jenny Greene Dr. Gaspar Bakos
Rutgers University 1999 Prof. Saurabh Jha Prof. Andrew Baker
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 2017 Dr. Jack Steiner Dr. Nancy S. Brickhouse
Stanford University 2012 Dr. Roger Romani Prof. Todd Hoeksema
Stony Brook University 1986 Dr. Frederick Walter Dr. Anja von der Linden
Texas A&M University 2014 Dr. Nicholas Suntzeff Dr. Darren DePoy
The University of Texas at Austin 1972 TBD Dr. Anita Cochran
The University of Texas at San Antonio 2019 Dr. Angela Speck Dr. Chris Packham
Universidad de Chile ** 1992 Dr. Patricio M. Rojo Dr. René A. Méndez
University of Arizona 1972 TBA Dr. Buell Jannuzi
University of California at Berkeley 2007 Dr. Jessica Lu Dr. Ryan Chornock
University of California at Los Angeles 2023 Prof. Andrea Ghez Prof. Tommaso Treu
University of California at Santa Cruz * 1957 Prof. Puragra (Raja) Guha Thakurta Prof. Connie Rockosi
University of Chicago * 1957 Prof. Jacob Bean Dr. Michael Gladders
University of Colorado 1977 Associate Professor Kevin France Prof. Julie Comerford
University of Florida 2002 Dr. Charles Telesco Dr. David Norton
University of Hawaii 1978 Dr. Michael Liu Dr. David Lonborg
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1980 Dr. Joaquin Vieira Dr. Gautham Narayan
University of Maryland 1986 Prof. Sylvain Veilleux Prof. Andrew Harris
University of Michigan * 1957 Dr. Sally Oey Dr. Sean Johnson
University of Minnesota 1995 Dr. Evan Skillman Prof. Claudia Scarlata
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1995 Dr. Andrew Mann Dr. Christopher Clemens
University of Pittsburgh 2012 Dr. Rachel Bezanson Dr. Carles Badenes
University of Toledo 2016 S. Thomas Megeath Dr. Karen Bjorkman
University of Utah 2023 Prof. Anil Chandra Seth Prof. Yao-Yuan Mao
University of Virginia 2003 Dr. Phil Arras Dr. Yifan Zhou
University of Washington 1986 Scott Anderson Mario Juric
University of Wisconsin * 1957 Dr. Robert Mathieu Professor Sebastian Heinz
Vanderbilt University 2010 Jessie Runnoe Stephen Taylor
Yale University 1958 Dr. Sarbani Basu Dr. Nikhil Padmanabhan