Dr. John Anderson Gerling Re-Elected to McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors

8 August 2013

FORT DAVIS — Dr. John Anderson Gerling of McAllen has been re-elected to a three-year term as a Member of The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy Board of Visitors. Dr. Gerling is an orthodontist practicing in McAllen.

 ”I am involved with McDonald Observatory because of its dedication to the scientific endeavor both in research and education,” Dr. Gerling said.

 Dr. Gerling joined the Board of Visitors in 2003. He maintains multiple board memberships and is the current board president for Quinta Mazatlan. He says that his main purpose in board service is to promote scientific literacy in the community, and he believes the McDonald Observatory serves in the forefront of this effort and is one of the most important research centers in astronomy.

 The Board of Visitors is a supporter’s group for the Texas Astronomy Program. It has accomplished great things, from funding chairs, professorships, and fellowships at the University, to developing private contributions for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center at McDonald Observatory. The Board’s Planned Giving Committee raises funds for the Observatory’s future, and the Lighting Ordinance Committee ensures that McDonald enjoys the darkest night skies of any professional observatory in the continental United States.

 Established in 1932, The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas, hosts multiple telescopes undertaking a wide range of astronomical research. McDonald is home to the consortium-run Hobby- Eberly Telescope (a joint project of The University of Texas at Austin, The Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen). An internationally known leader in astronomy education and outreach, McDonald Observatory is also pioneering the next generation of astronomical research as a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope.

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John Gerling

John Gerling