In April, Alistair Walker was named Assistant Director for the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. This follows the departure of Mark Phillips (the previous holder of this position) and the increased responsibilities being taken on by Malcolm Smith in connection with AURA's observatory in Chile (described in March 1999 Newsletter No. 57).
Alistair is recognized at an international level not only for his scientific and technical contributions to precise photometry but particularly for his substantial contributions to problems of the distance scale -- both galactic and extragalactic. He has also made major contributions towards addressing crucial problems related to the age of stellar clusters, which provide a significant constraint on cosmological models for the age of the universe.
At Cerro Tololo, Alistair has provided over a decade of experienced, hands-on, scientific leadership that has allowed CTIO to remain at the forefront of CCD imaging and photometry.
Among a variety of new duties, Alistair has been taking particular responsibility for scientific and technical aspects of the day-to-day operation of Cerro Tololo. He continues his role as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Technical Resources, CTIO's internal development and priority-setting committee for instrumentation and other technical matters.
With this promotion, Tololo is in a stronger position to manage the many changes that are occurring as a result of the arrival of Gemini South and SOAR in Chile.
Malcolm G. Smith