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Directors for CTIO and NSO (1Sep93)
(from the Director's Office, NOAO Newsletter No. 35, 1 September 1993)

I am very pleased to announce the selection of new directors for NSO
and CTIO. Jacques Beckers will assume the position of Director of NSO
in October of this year. Malcolm Smith will become Director of CTIO in
November.

Beckers and Smith are, of course, well known to the astronomical
community. Beckers is returning to NOAO from the European Southern
Observatory, where he was responsible for the design of the
interferometer that will be incorporated into the Very Large Telescope
facility. He has also served as Director of the Multiple Mirror
Telescope, and earlier in his career was a staff member at the
Sacramento Peak Observatory. Beckers says that he is very much looking
forward to returning to solar physics, which is the area in which he
began his career.

Smith is currently serving as Director of the Joint Astronomy Centre in
Hawaii. The JAC operates the largest telescopes in the world dedicated
to astronomy at submillimeter and infrared wavelengths.  Smith was a
staff member at CTIO in the early 1970s, and so he, too, is coming back
to the observatory where he launched his career. Smith plans to return
to optical research, with emphasis on work on quasars. His experience
in running a multi-national facility will be especially valuable in
working with the Gemini project as it initiates construction on Cerro
Pachon.

John Leibacher will remain Director of NSO until Beckers arrives. John
will then return to the NSO scientific staff, and he will continue to
serve as Project Scientist for the Global Oscillations Network Group
(GONG). Bob Williams will become Director of STScI in August. Mark
Phillips will be the Acting Director of CTIO until Smith assumes his
new position.

I am greatly indebted to the search committees for these two positions,
and I would like thank:

        CTIO Search Committee
        James Liebert, Chair
        Bruce Carney
        James Hesser
        Ruth Peterson
        Robert Schommer
        Craig Wheeler

        NSO Search Committee
        Robert MacQueen, Chair
        Jeff Kuhn
        Douglas Rabin
        Robert Rosner
        John Thomas

for their very successful efforts. Both committees identified a number
of genuinely outstanding candidates, and both Beckers and Smith are
exceptionally talented individuals. They will provide the kind of strong
leadership that NOAO requires in challenging times.

Sidney C. Wolff

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