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AAS Agents Program
About the Agents program - skip to Roster of Agents
Similar to the precinct-captain model of election campaigns, the AAS Agents program is designed to improve communication between the Society and its members and to enhance the profile of the AAS in the astronomical sciences community by providing a local, familiar point of contact at each home institution.
What is the role of an AAS Agent?
Agents serve as volunteer liaisons between the Society and those it represents, members and non-members alike. They serve several roles:
- Advocate for Society membership: encouraging astronomers to join the Society
- Conduit for essential information: passing along particularly important information to their constituents
- A familiar face: those in our community are more likely to engage the AAS when they have a local Agent who is a known peer
- A filter of communication: a local Agent knows which information is most relevant for their constituents, and so can tailor and filter communications from the AAS as appropriate for their unit. They can also solicit input from facets of the community not represented by the Strategic Assembly to ensure the AAS is responsive to the needs of everyone in the astronomical sciences
- A local resource: often, a quick email or conversation is more efficient and useful than a website. Agents serve as a local, known point of contact to answer questions and have conversations about the Society and its services.
Who is my local AAS Agent?
Scroll down for the roster of AAS Agents. If your institution isn't on this list, i.e., doesn't already have an AAS Agent, please consider volunteering to serve in this important capacity!
OK, how do I sign up?
Please email the membership staff and let them know that you're interested in becoming an AAS Agent at your institution. You may also volunteer to include related or nearby institutions as part of your charge, especially if they might have too few in the astronomy and/or physics department to warrant their own Agent.
Jason Wright (Pennsylvania State University) is the current Lead Agent; the Deputy Lead Agent is Eric Hintz (Brigham Young University).
| INSTITUTION | LOCATION | AAS AGENT |
|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University | Abilene, TX | Thomas J. Maccarone |
| Alabama in Huntsville, University of | Huntsville, AL | Jon E. Hakkila |
| Alliance of Historic Observatories | Santa Cruz, CA | Matt Shetrone |
| American Museum of Natural History | New York, NY | Kelle L. Cruz |
| Angelo State University | San Angelo, TX | Thomas J. Maccarone |
| Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ | Patrick A. Young |
| Arizona, University of | Tucson, AZ | Xiaohui Fan |
| Auburn University | Auburn, AL | Dennis Bodewits |
| Baylor University | Waco, TX | Barbara Castanheira Endl |
| Boston University | Boston, MA | Tereasa G. Brainerd |
| Brigham Young University, Provo | Provo, UT | Eric G. Hintz |
| California at Irvine, University of | Irvine, CA | Aaron Barth |
| California at San Diego, University of | La Jolla, CA | Adam J. Burgasser |
| California at Santa Barbara, University of | Santa Barbara, CA | Briley Lewis |
| California at Santa Cruz, University of | Santa Cruz, CA | Matt Shetrone |
| Caltech/IPAC | Pasadena, CA | Mike Lund |
| Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope | Kamuela, HI | Heather Flewelling |
| Ctr for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian | Cambridge, MA | Rodolfo Montez, Jr. |
| CHARA Array, The | Los Angeles, CA | Nicholas J. Scott |
| Chicago, University of | Chicago, IL | Derek L. Buzasi |
| City University of New York | New York, NY | Kelle L. Cruz |
| Colorado at Boulder, University of | Boulder, CO | Zachory K. Berta-Thompson |
| Columbia University | New York, NY | David J. Helfand |
| Denver, University of | Denver, CO | Jennifer L. Hoffman |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia, PA | Gordon T. Richards |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Prescott, AZ | Noel D. Richardson |
| Georgia State University | Atlanta, GA | Todd J. Henry |
| Goddard | Greenbelt, MD | James E. Leake |
| Green Bank Observatory | Green Bank, WV | Karen L. O'Neil |
| Haverford College | Haverford, PA | Karen L. Masters |
| Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of | Urbana, IL | Tony H. Wong |
| Indiana University | Bloomington, IN | Catherine A. Pilachowski |
| Indiana University East/Eastern Indiana Agent | Richmond, IN | R. Wes Tobin |
| Iowa, University of | Iowa City, IA | Dustin Swarm |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | Ethan Vishniac |
| JPL | Pasadena, CA | Klaus M. Pontoppidan |
| Kentucky, University of | Lexington, KY | Ronald J. Wilhelm |
| Kutztown University/PA State System of Higher Ed | Kutztown, PA | Phillip A. Reed |
| Lehigh University | Bethlehem, PA | M.Virginia McSwain |
| Louisville, University of | Louisville, KY | Gerard M. Williger |
| Madison College/Planetaria, Great Lakes Region | Verona, WI | Benjamin Senson |
| Manchester, University of | Manchester, UK | Christopher Conselice |
| Maryland at Baltimore County, University of | Baltimore, MD | Eileen T. Meyer |
| Maryland at College Park, University of | College Park, MD | Peter Teuben |
| McMurry University | Abilene, TX | Thomas J. Maccarone |
| Michigan Tech University | Houghton, MI | Robert J. Nemiroff |
| Michigan, University of | Ann Arbor, MI | Christopher J. Miller |
| Middlebury College/Twin States Agent | Middlebury, VT | McKinley Brumback |
| Minnesota, Twin Cities, University of | Minneapolis, MN | Claudia Scarlata |
| MiraCosta College/Ctr for Astronomy Education | Oceanside, CA | Rica Sirbaugh French |
| Missouri State University | Springfield, MO | Sarah J. Morrison |
| Montana State University | Bozeman, MT | Neel Vadodaria |
| NASA HQ | Bethlehem, PA | Joshua Pepper |
| National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) | Charlottesville, VA | Brian Kent |
| New Jersey Institue of Technology | Newark, NJ | Bin Chen |
| New Mexico State University | Las Cruces, NM | Wladimir Lyra |
| New Mexico Tech | Socorro, NM | Ryan P. Norris |
| North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of | Chapel Hill, NC | Fabian Heitsch |
| North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC | John M. Blondin |
| North Texas, University of | Denton, TX | Rebekah M. Purvis |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | Frederic A. Rasio |
| Notre Dame, University of | Notre Dame | Peter Garnavich |
| NSF's NOIRLab | La Serena, CHILE | Sean Points |
| Penn State | University Park, PA | Jason Thomas Wright |
| Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | Michael A. Strauss |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY | Joel H. Kastner |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | Piscataway, NJ | Alyson Brooks |
| Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory | Cambridge, MA | Scott J. Wolk |
| Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) | Baltimore, MD | Brett Morris |
| Tennessee, Knoxville, University of | Knoxville, TN | Zoha Laraib |
| Texas at El Paso, University of | El Paso, TX | Thomas J. Maccarone |
| Texas at San Antonio, University of | San Antonio, TX | Lisa Shepard |
| Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX | Peter M. Frinchaboy |
| Texas Tech University | Lubbock, TX | Thomas J. Maccarone |
| The Aerospace Corporation | Greenbelt, MD | Joshua S. Reding |
| Toledo, University of | Toledo, OH | Michael Cushing |
| USNO | Columbia, MD | Sethanne Howard |
| Valparaiso University | Valparaiso, IN | Lane Scheel |
| Villanova University | Villanova, PA | Kelly Hambleton |
| Washington at Seattle, University of | Seattle, WA | Emily Levesque |
| Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, MO | Tansu Daylan |
| Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT | Roy Kilgard |
| West Virginia University | Morgantown, WV | Karen L. O'Neil |
| Wisconsin, University of | Wisconsin (statewide) | Robert A. Benjamin |
| Wyoming, University of | Laramie, WY | Adam D. Myers |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | C. Megan Urry |
| Youngstown State University | Youngstown, OH | John J. Feldmeier |