Think FAMOUS for Your Year-End Giving

Even in this electronic age, we all know how important it is to meet face-to-face at least occasionally so that we can share our wonder and understanding of the universe with each other. In 2014, the AAS Council established the FAMOUS (Funds for Astronomical Meetings: Outreach to Underrepresented Scientists) Travel Grant program to make it possible for some of our colleagues from historically underrepresented groups to attend AAS meetings. FAMOUS Travel Grants allow these members, such as scientists at small colleges, minority, LGBT+, non-traditional, and veteran students and astronomers, to overcome financial challenges so that they can join us at our annual gatherings. Stipends are awarded for up to $1,000 to offset the costs of travel so that our AAS meetings will be enriched with a variety of astronomers that rivals the variety of celestial objects and research carried out by AAS members.

In the first three years of the program, 48 stipends for a total of $40,000 have been awarded. This year, virtually every one of the 62 applicants was deserving of support, yet only 25 stipends could be given. As you make your year-end contributions, please consider a gift to the FAMOUS Travel Grant Fund. The members of the FAMOUS Committee — Geoff Clayton, Ed Guinan, Todd Henry (Chair), Kelly Holley-Bocklemann, and Angela Speck — are both humbled by and proud of the breadth of backgrounds we have learned about through the FAMOUS Travel Grant program, and the sincere efforts of our fellow members to come together at our AAS meetings. We look forward to seeing many of our FAMOUS colleagues in Grapevine, so please don't hesitate to introduce yourself.