David R. King Re-Elected to McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors

8 August 2013

FORT DAVIS — David R. King of Austin 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.

 ”My father was one of the early Board of Visitor members and brought me along to the summer meetings when I was a kid because of my love for astronomy. I eventually became an entrepreneur in Austin and decided to join as a member myself,” Mr. King said. “I love the work that Observatory does with its education and outreach programs which benefits thousands of students each year by providing onsite teacher workshops and web-based astronomy programs. They also produce the StarDate radio program, which reaches millions of listeners each week.”

 Mr. King joined the Board of Visitors in 1997.

 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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David King

David King