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 46 U.S. Member Institutions and 4 International Affiliate Members which comprise the Member Institutions of AURA. The President of each Member Institution designates a Member Representative who has a voice in AURA matters. Together, the Member Representatives act upon membership applications.
Membership policy, guidelines and process documents (PDFs):
Guidelines for International Members
AURA Member Institutions and Representatives
* denotes founding member
** denotes international affiliate member
** denotes international affiliate member
| Member Institution | Year | Member Representative | Alternate MR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston University | 1993 | Prof. Catherine Espaillat | Dr. Philip Muirhead |
| California Institute of Technology | 1972 | Dr. Judith Cohen | Dr. Lynne Hillenbrand |
| 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. Rodney Hanley | Dr. Arnold Burger |
| Georgia State University | 2008 | Dr. D. Michael Crenshaw | Dr. James Weyhenmeyer |
| Harvard University * | 1957 | Prof. Edo Berger | Prof. Charlie Conroy |
| Indiana University * | 1957 | Dr. Rick Van Kooten | Prof. Liese van Zee |
| Iowa State University | 1992 | Dr. Massimo Marengo | Dr. Surya Mallapragada |
| Johns Hopkins University | 1982 | Dr. Rosemary Wyse | Dr. Timothy Heckman |
| Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium | 2018 | TBD | |
| Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik ** | 2016 | Dr. Svetlana Berdyugina | Dr. Jo Bruls |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1981 | Prof. Richard Binzel | |
| 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 | TBD | |
| New Mexico State University | 1999 | Dr. Robert James McAteer | Dr. James Murphy |
| Ohio State University * | 1957 | Dr. Patrick Osmer | Dr. Smita Mathur |
| Pennsylvania State University | 1990 | Dr. Suvrath Mahadevan | |
| Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile ** | 1997 | Dr. Felipe Barrientos | Dr. Gaspar Galaz |
| Princeton University | 1959 | Dr. Jenny Greene | Dr. Gaspar Bakos |
| Rutgers University | 1999 | Prof. Andrew Baker | Dr. Gaspar Bakos |
| Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory | 2017 | Dr. Nelson Caldwell | Mr. Joe Lendall |
| Stanford University | 2012 | Dr. Roger Romani | Dr. Bruce Macintosh |
| Stony Brook University | 1986 | Dr. Frederick Walter | Dr. Anja von der Linden |
| Texas A&M University | 2014 | Dr. Nicholas Suntzeff | Dr. Jerry Strawser |
| Tohoku University ** | 2010 | Prof. Masayuki Akiyama | Prof. Tadayuki Kodama |
| Universidad de Chile ** | 1992 | Dr. Maria Teresa Ruiz | Dr. Ricardo Muñoz |
| University of Arizona | 1972 | Dr. Philip Pinto | Dr. Buell Jannuzi |
| University of California at Berkeley | 2007 | Dr. Peter Nugent | Dr. Mariska Kriek |
| University of California at Santa Cruz * | 1957 | Prof. Puragra (Raja) Guha Thakurta | Dr. Claire Max |
| University of Chicago * | 1957 | Prof. Jacob Bean | Dr. Michael Gladders |
| University of Colorado | 1977 | Dr. John Bally | Prof. Julie Comerford |
| University of Florida | 2002 | Dr. Charles Telesco | Dr. David Norton |
| University of Hawaii | 1978 | Dr. Jonathan Williams | Dr. Karen Meech |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 1980 | Prof. Athol Kemball | Prof. Matthew Ando |
| University of Maryland | 1986 | Dr. Stuart Vogel | Prof. Andrew Harris |
| University of Michigan * | 1957 | Dr. Sally Oey | Dr. Douglas Richstone |
| University of Minnesota | 1995 | Dr. Evan Skillman | Prof. Claudia Scarlata |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 1995 | Dr. Gerald Cecil | Dr. Christopher Clemens |
| University of Pittsburgh | 2012 | Dr. Rachel Bezanson | Dr. Carles Badenes |
| University of Texas at Austin | 1972 | Dr. Anita Cochran | n/a |
| University of Toledo | 2016 | Dr. Karen Bjorkman | Dr. Andrew Hsu |
| University of Virginia | 2003 | Dr. Michael Skrutskie | |
| University of Washington | 1986 | Scott Anderson | |
| University of Wisconsin * | 1957 | Dr. Amy Barger | Dr. Robert Mathieu |
| Vanderbilt University | 2010 | Dr. Keivan Stassun | Dr. David Weintraub |
| Yale University | 1958 | Dr. Sarbani Basu | Dr. Nikhil Padmanabhan |