Candidate Statement: Charles Liu

Charles Liu

Nominated Office: At-Large Trustee

Affiliation: City University of New York, College of Staten Island

Position/Title: Astrophysics Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy

PhD Institution: University of Arizona (1996)

Areas of scientific interest:

  • Galaxy evolution
  • Starbursts and post-starburst galaxies
  • Active galactic nuclei
  • Astronomy education research

AAS positions & dates:

  • Chair, Education Committee (2018)
  • Education Officer, American Astronomical Society (2015 – 2018)
  • Member, Education Prize Committee (2013 – 2014)
  • Member, Astronomy Education Board (2012 – 2015)
  • Member, Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA) (2003 – 2008)

Other relevant positions and experience:

  • President, Astronomical Society of New York (2016 – present)
  • Member, LSST Science Advisory Committee, Vera Rubin Observatory (2016 – present)
  • Member, Workforce and Diversity Committee, AURA (2015 – 2018)
  • Director, Macaulay Honors College at CUNY College of Staten Island (2012 – 2018)
  • Director, The Verrazano School at CUNY College of Staten Island (2008 – 2011; 2012 – 2018)
  • Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium (2003 – present)

Candidate Statement:

Six years ago, in my candidate statement for AAS Education Officer, I quoted H.G. Wells: "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." Little did I suspect that this sentence would be dramatically truer now than it was then. This year, when I was invited to be a candidate for AAS Trustee, I asked myself how I could best serve the Society and our community were you all to entrust me with that position. Well, for one thing, AAS governance evolved in 2017, and the AAS no longer has an Education Officer. A major priority for me, as you might surmise, would thus be to maintain a strong voice on the Board of Trustees about education-connected issues for AAS members and in our field overall.

My service as Trustee, however, must extend far beyond one issue. I care deeply about the AAS — it's had a powerfully positive effect in my life since I was a teenager — and I want the AAS to be even more positive and meaningful for the next generation, and for generations after that. The year 2020 has starkly revealed the fragility and injustice of so many institutions I care about; and although I recognize that my understanding remains far from complete, I feel I need to ask deep and even existential questions about the AAS. We were founded in 1899; today, what barriers to entry into our community are entrenched? Who should belong in the AAS that have been excluded? Who should benefit from the AAS that have been unseen? What can the AAS do to support those who are struggling to stay in the field — or to leave it? For our students and colleagues a few years from now, will joining the AAS even matter?

By no means would I be the first person to ask such questions. The AAS has led the wider scientific community in important ways — with a modern code of ethics and anti-harassment policies, for example. Yet so much more needs to be done. If I'm elected as a Trustee, I'll work with both the AAS leadership and membership to keep progressing on those crucial questions, and then work to help the AAS move ever forward — toward inclusivity, equity, diversity, and increased social responsibility and service in the public interest.

Here's the challenge: although it may seem otherwise, the AAS isn’t that big or that wealthy. NASA’s astrophysics budget for FY2020 alone, for example, was two orders of magnitude larger than all the assets of the AAS put together. We can’t simply spend our way to a future of influence and relevance. We have to earn it by having integrity and credibility in our words and deeds, being excellent and diligent in our work, caring about all our students and colleagues, and acting to create a vibrant, welcoming, and just American Astronomical Society. I pledge myself to this purpose, whether or not I'm elected. Thank you all for giving my candidacy your consideration.