Mr. David Rose Elected to McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors

FORT DAVIS — Mr. David Rose of Houston has been 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. Mr. Rose is a space industry systems engineer and manager whose career has spanned both NASA and commercial human space flight programs.

 ”As both a University of Texas at Austin graduate and a space-industry insider, I have closely followed the Texas Astronomy program, and can be found looking 'up' whenever eclipses, comets, orbiting satellites or other celestial events grace the skies overhead,” Mr. Rose said.

 Mr. Rose and his wife, Kelly, are both originally from Miami, Florida but have lived in Houston since attending college. Kelly is an attorney with a Houston law firm. Active in the Houston arts community, Kelly and David are patrons of the Houston Grand Opera. Kelly currently serves on the board of the Houston Area Women's Center, an organization that provides shelter, counseling and advocacy for victims of domestic and sexual violence. David is Vice President of Lanier Friends of Music Education, a parent group that raises funds to support Lanier Middle School music programs. David and Kelly are also generous contributors to United Way and several other organizations working to cure disease and assist people in need around the world.

 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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