Career

I am an astronomer by training and passion. My current position is distinguished professor of physics & astronomy at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a rising Carnegie R1 / Hispanic Serving Institution. Astronomical research and growing the UTSA space technology & operations ecosystem are my current primary activities.

It has been a privilege to work with many of the leading scientists, engineers, and administrators from the astronomical communities in the Americas, Europe, Australia, East Asia, and South Asia.

Career summary (details: two-page resume)

2024—now   |  Director, UTSA Space Tech & Operations R&D Center
2024—now   |  Affiliate Faculty Member, UTSA School of Data Science
2019—now   |  Distinguished Professor, UTSA Physics & Astronomy

2019—2024 |  Dean, UTSA College of Sciences
2008—2019 |  Director, National Optical Astronomy Observatory
2006—2008 |  Observatory Scientist, Thirty Meter Telescope Project
2000—2005 |  Leader, ESO Science Archive Facility
1997—2000 |  Leader, ESO User Support Group
1996—1997 |  Astronomer, US Gemini Project Office
1993—1995 |  Project Manager / Observatory Scientist, WIYN 3.5-m Telescope
1991—1993 |  Postdoctoral Fellow, Kitt Peak National Observatory

In early 2024, I completed five years as Dean of the UTSA College of Sciences.

From 2008 - 2019, I was Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the NSF's national observatory for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy. NOAO developed, built, and operated astronomical telescopes, instruments, and data systems in Arizona and Chile. During my directorship, NOAO and its partners implemented the Community Science and Data Center (home of the Astro Data Lab), the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program, the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). In 2020, NOAO assets were merged into the NSF's National Optical Infrared Laboratory, NOIRLab. I co-led the team that developed the baseline concept and implementation plan that was approved by NSF.

I am an experienced leader of mixed, multi-program teams of scientific, engineering/technical, and administrative personnel settings spread over multiple sites, often at trans-oceanic distances.

My technical experience is deepest regarding astronomical data acquisition, processing, visualization, management, and storage. In recent years, I have added JupyterHub-based cloud computing and ML-based structure analysis to that portfolio. I also have broad technical knowledge of ground-based optical-infrared telescopes and their focal plan imaging & spectroscopic instrumentation.

My scientific expertise is discussed on the Research page.