Chris Smith Named Director of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Source: National Optical Astronomy Observatory - Comments Dr. R. Chris Smith has been selected as the next director of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). Smith will succeed Dr. Alistair Walker in November. Walker will return to the scientific staff of CTIO after five years as director. Based in La Serena, Chile, CTIO is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the US national observatory for nighttime optical/infrared astronomy funded by the National Science Foundation. On Cerro Tololo, CTIO operates the Blanco 4-meter telescope and a suite of one meter-class telescopes for a university consortium called SMARTS (as well as several tenant facilities). On nearby Cerro Pachon, CTIO operates the SOAR 4.1-meter telescope (on behalf of an... [read full story]