Wayne and Barbara Alexander Re-Elected to McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors

FORT DAVIS — Wayne and Barbara Alexander of San Antonio have been re-elected to a three-year term as Members of The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy Board of Visitors.

 ”We became interested in 2000 when we were invited to attend a meeting of the Board of Visitors at Ft. Davis by dear friends Phyllis and Curtis Vaughan,” Wayne Alexander said. “Both of us have a fascination about our universe and its mysteries and while there that weekend we discovered the amazing scientific research and educational outreach going on with McDonald and the Department of Astronomy. We were immediately hooked. We have loved every aspect of our continuing involvement with the BOV ever since.”

 Mr. and Mrs. Alexander joined the Board of Visitors in 2000. Wayne Alexander was also elected Chair of Board of Visitors at the July 27, 2013, meeting. In other civic service, he is Chairman of the Board for the Port Authority of San Antonio.

 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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