Dear Colleagues,
Since my appointment as Director of Rubin Construction I’ve been working with the team to set up further appointments in the Director’s office (pending formal NSF approval).
For the position of Deputy Director for Rubin Construction for AURA/NSF I am honored to announce Sandrine Thomas. Sandrine is the Rubin Telescope & Site Subsystem Scientist and she brings a wealth of technical and managerial experience from across all facets of the telescope as well as commissioning and program management knowledge. Her experience and can-do approach will be invaluable in getting us across the construction finish line. Over the past few years she has worked tirelessly within the team of the Workplace Culture Advocates, looking for opportunities to improve the Rubin culture and has contributed immensely to make it a more diverse and inclusive environment.
For the position of Project Scientist for Rubin Construction I am delighted to announce Steve Ritz. Steve is a professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz and is the Rubin Camera Subsystem Scientist. Like many of us, he has been working on implementing positive change in diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate. Before joining us, Steve was the Project Scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, so he has ample experience in the many aspects of his new position. In addition, Steve has played a variety of community leadership and advisory roles in astronomy and physics.
Aaron Roodman will take on the role of LSST Camera Program Lead for SLAC/DOE and will be Deputy Director for Rubin Construction for SLAC/DOE. Aaron is a professor of particle physics and astrophysics at SLAC, has been the Camera Integration & Test scientist since 2011 and held a number of different leadership positions at SLAC, KIPAC and in previous experiments.
Please join me in thanking Steve Kahn for bringing us so far, and so close to success and in congratulating Sandrine, Steve, and Aaron as they step into their new roles.
-Zeljko
