Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy
New Mexico State University
Box 30001 / MSC 4500
1320 Frenger Mall
Las Cruces NM 88003
575-646-8181 (office)
I grew up in Baltimore MD, received my B.A. and M.S. in Astronomy at Wesleyan University, and got my Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I spent six years working as a research associate at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff AZ before moving to New Mexico State University as a faculty member in 1995. I formally retired as a full Professor in 2024, but continue to be active in several areas, and maintain emeritus status.
In the field of astronomy, I have interests in the fields of stars, stellar populations, the structure of galaxies, and cosmology. I also enjoy working with data analysis and astronomical instrumentation and software.
I have been fortunate to have been involved with projects at the Apache Point Observatory, as Project Scientist for the ARC 3.5m telescope, and through involvement with several Sloan Digital Sky Survey projects, most notably the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE); I served as the Survey Scientist for the APOGEE-2 project of SDSS-IV and as Commissioning Scientist for SDSS-V. I serve on the ARC Board of Governors as one of the NMSU Board representatives.
I was also fortunate to have been involved with work on the Hubble Space Telescope: I was an associate member of the Instrument Definition Team for the original WF/PC camera, and a full member of the IDT for the WFPC2 camera. I was closely involved with the initial work on diagnosing the optical problem with the telescope and determining how it could be corrected with new instruments. I served on the Science Oversight Committee for the WFC3 camera that was installed in the HST in 2009.
Outside of astronomy-related things, I enjoy the outdoors and music.
I’m always open to new possibilities!