May 12

2022 AURA Annual Meeting

logos of the 50 institutions that are members of AURA
Logos of the 50 institutions that are members of AURA.

Each year the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) holds an Annual Meeting for the Representatives from its Member Institutions. The 2022 meeting, held virtually this year April 25-27, included updates on AURA’s facilities, elections for AURA governance positions, and discussions about the recommendations from the 2020 Decadal Survey.

The first part of the meeting included a presentation by AURA President Matt Mountain and updates from the Directors of Space Telescope Science Institute, NOIRLab, and the National Solar Observatory (NSO), including video updates from NSO and NOIRLab (see below). This was followed the next day by presentations and discussions about the US-Extremely Large Telescope Program and the Vera Rubin Construction Project.

One of the purposes of the Annual Meeting is to elect new members to AURA’s governing bodies.  At the recent meeting the AURA Member Representatives elected new members of the AURA Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee, and selected nominees for the Management Councils which are then ratified by the Board.

Before the elections, Lynda Dec, AURA Human Resources Division Chief, presented an unconscious bias briefing. The presentation provided the Member Representatives with information that could enable them to stay conscious of potential biases in their approach to the evaluation process. Ameerah McBride, AURA Chief Diversity Officer, spoke about efforts to include the diversity, equity, and inclusion work of candidates as a consideration for election.

After the Annual meeting the AURA Board of Directors met on April 28, also virtually. One of the results of that meeting was an endorsement of the principles for the future management of astronomical facilities on Maunakea. Read about the endorsement here.

 AURA thanks all the outgoing members of its governing bodies for their service. 

Election results (* indicates new members, positions starting July 1, 2022):

AURA Board of Directors – Andrew Baker*, Elizabeth Barton*, Karen Bjorkman, Elizabeth Cantwell* (Chair of the STIC), Jim Crocker, Roger Davies, Megan Donahue (Vice-Chair), Kim Espy, Maura Hagan* (Chair), Jeff Hall* (Chair of the SOC), Todd Hoeksema, Sally Oey*, Mark Phillips, David Reitze* (Chair of the NMOC), Maria Teresa Ruiz, Jim Yeck* (Chair of the AMCR). Ex-officio Member: Matt Mountain.

Solar Observatory Council (SOC) – Doug Biesecker*, Emily CoBabe-Ammann*, Jeff Hall* (Chair), Feng-Chuan Liu, Dale Gary*, James Mason, Kathy Reeves*, Alan Tokunaga, Saku Tsuneta, Astrid Veronig, Christine Wiedinmyer*. Ex-officio Member: Matt Mountain.

NOIRLab Management Oversight Council (NMOC) – Roberto Abraham, Rebecca Bernstein* (Vice-Chair), Marcio Catelan, Kelle Cruz, Francisco Forster, Jennifer Marshall, Robert Martin*, Patricia McBride, Jim Oschmann, David Reitze (Chair), Lisa Storrie-Lombardi, John Troeltzsch. Ex-officio Member: Matt Mountain.

Space Telescope Institute Council (STIC) – James Bullock*, Elizabeth Cantwell* (Chair), Jim Green, Joan Higginbotham*, Bruce Macintosh*, Lucas Macri*, Sue Porterfield*, Willie Rockward, Ellen Stofan, Jessica Werk. Ex-officio Member: Matt Mountain.

AURA Management Council for the Rubin Observatory (AMCR) – Tulika Bose*, Stuartt Corder, Brenna Flaugher, David MacFarlane, Lucas Macri, Rachel Mandelbaum, Joe McMullin, Alex Szalay, James Yeck (Chair). Ex-officio Members: Daniel Akerib, Pat McCarthy, Matt Mountain, Paulina Lira.

2022 AURA Nominating Committee – Daniela Calzetti*, Alberto Conti*, Sarah Gibson*, David Silva*, Michael Zwick*.