Fiona Harrison & Robert Kennicutt Jr. to Co-Chair Astro2020

The President of the National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNutt, has appointed Fiona Harrison and Robert Kennicutt Jr. to serve as co-chairs of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey committee. Harrison is the Benjamin M. Rosen Professor of Physics and the Kent and Joyce Kresa Leadership Chair of the Division of Physics and Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology. Kennicutt is professor at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory and in Texas A&M University's Department of Physics and Astronomy (additional biographical information). Co-chairs Harrison and Kennicutt will lead the Astro2020 Town Hall at the upcoming winter AAS meeting in Seattle.

The Astro2020 webpage has more information on the survey and will continue to be updated with ways the community can participate in the Astro2020 process. Comments and questions on the appointment of the co-chairs can be sent to [email protected]. Nominations for committee service will be requested imminently, announced on the Astro2020 webpage, and advertised by the AAS. Official public comment periods for co-chairs and eventual committee membership will open soon. Science white papers will be accepted Monday, 7 January, through Tuesday, 19 February (an updated submission window).