Tmt comp background

Governance

Board of Governors

3fd7ce7c0837548f2a56fee2a2ed782fabfcaf36
Robert Kirshner
TIO Executive Director
61988d87ca003a7d8f4c042587536c02ca8f89cd
Edward Stone
TIO Founding Director - David Morrisroe Professor of Physics/Vice Provost for Special Projects
Caltech
Bd2911d988e32b5d962156dc4f17d1518da36979
Diana Jergovic
Vice President for Strategy Implementation
Caltech
2f6978883a4324984752aedcbb9c2ab796e5b5f0
Chris Martin
Professor of Physics; Director of Caltech Optical Observatories
Caltech
Ded3fac3b53f85603a66ed6dc184ec07d15a8127
B Thomas Soifer
Harold Brown Professor of Physics, Emeritus; Director, Spitzer Science Center - Board representative to the SAC
Caltech
15d75aa62f4aac447d06e1026b093dbdd2d5d787
Michael L. Balogh
Professor; Undergraduate Advisor - Physics & Astronomy
Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo - Board representative to the SAC
6a61bde35fdc37dee6267b6fb27e890af3e342ca
Gilles Joncas
Executive Director of ACURA
Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy
541e2cdb7edc27c7786f8af26ed477969a0ee9e0
Luc Simard
General Manager
NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Center
53d27622e315c0095c608944a82a017d9741d814
A.N. Ramaprakash
Associate Programme Director - Board representative to the SAC
India TMT Coordination Center (ITCC)
4aa44eb29a9f6ea9b53ba4eccfe6a7088ce11f12
B Eswar Reddy
Programme Director
India TMT Coordination Center (ITCC)
45e5e77588a57f8786a37d357fb0b79c3841ddc0
Saku Tsuneta (Vice Chair)
Director General of NAOJ
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
828f6470b5fd7a7a1b752776335f5b7fb16c7dbb
Tomonori Usuda
Professor - Board representative to the SAC
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) / TMT-J
E0ec73fc4850bc9d4a3252924d047d4b57118173
Michitoshi Yoshida
NAOJ Vice Director General
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
11f92178db8d1e4a0c140f2ab6194e85ceaa9d19
Michael Bolte
TIO Board Member from University of California/Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of California Observatories/UC Santa Cruz
28c47bbbfe7b71353b82d00d1b2517e69ec75293
Bruce Macintosh
Director UC Observatories
UC Santa Cruz
B95e666872608e3c20efa3e91ff54bb3aedc461d
Henry T Yang (Chair)
Chancellor
University of California, Santa Barbara

Science Advisory Committee

The Science Advisory Committee (SAC) is a committee of the Thirty-Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC (TIO) Board of Directors. The SAC is an advisory committee, representing the scientific interests of the TIO Members, including making recommendations to the Board regarding science priorities and instrumentation.

The SAC is composed of regular members and ex-officio members who are appointed by the Board of Governors of the TMT International Observatory (TIO). Each Member may nominate up to three representatives to serve as regular SAC members plus one ex-officio member who is also a member of the Board. Each Associate may nominate up to three representatives to serve as regular SAC members and one ex-officio member who also participates on the TIO Board as defined in that Associate’s Memorandum of Agreement. During the term of the TMT sublease with University of Hawaii, University of Hawaii may nominate one representative to serve as a regular member of the SAC. In addition, the Project Scientist is an ex-officio member of the SAC. The SAC may recommend to the Chairperson of the Board nominations for SAC membership. Non-voting observers to the SAC from entities considering joining TMT may be approved by the Governing Board.

SAC Charter

The SAC co-chairs meet biweekly by telephone. Meetings of the complete SAC normally occurs 4 times per year.

SAC responsibilities include:

  • With the Project Scientist, establish and maintain the top-level science requirements of the observatory. These are embodied in the Science-based Requirements Document (SRD) and follow from the scientific capabilities requested by the TMT partner communities.
  • Assist the TMT project team with the translation of the SRD requirements into technical requirements. Work with the project to resolve differences or inconsistencies between the SRD and project Observatory Requirements Documents.
  • Develop and maintain a scientific strategic plan. This plan will identify and describe key TMT scientific capabilities.
  • Advise the Board on the selection of TMT instrument concepts, including adaptive optics, for further study and ultimately on the selection of instruments and adaptive optics systems to be built.
  • Provide science-based advice to the Board, the Observatory Director, the Project Scientist and, during the construction phase, to the Project Manager. During the operational phase, provide advice regarding all scientific aspects of operations and provide regular assessments of the scientific productivity and operational efficiency of the observatory.
  • Act as a liaison with the TMT partner communities regarding science requirements, prioritization of capabilities and operations modes. Work to engage and inform the communities about the capabilities and scientific potential of the observatory.
8d2f9ea95c77586d9d602da19621464419212578
Judith Cohen
Kate Van Nuys Page Professor of Astronomy
Caltech
2f6978883a4324984752aedcbb9c2ab796e5b5f0
Chris Martin
Professor of Physics; Director of Caltech Optical Observatories
Caltech
Ded3fac3b53f85603a66ed6dc184ec07d15a8127
B Thomas Soifer
Harold Brown Professor of Physics, Emeritus; Director, Spitzer Science Center - Board representative to the SAC
Caltech
A35e66cef3119343c7af44502bc3d68d2e16ad0b
Charles (Chuck) Steidel (Caltech Co-chair)
Lee A. DuBridge Professor of Astronomy
Caltech
06fee69fed97f569df8e12f2ea41a4f770dd2d8f
Roberto Abraham
Professor
University of Toronto
15d75aa62f4aac447d06e1026b093dbdd2d5d787
Michael L. Balogh
Professor; Undergraduate Advisor - Physics & Astronomy
Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo - Board representative to the SAC
1988b51c79c92b94b56eec44da57ca5f8b108953
Björn Benneke
Professor
Department of Physics, University of Montréal
3bb5aa13ce3723edb5a27f7e2acd20569cc4945e
Stanimir Metchev (Canada Co-chair)
Associate Professor
University of Western Ontario
97f6c7816d728d3b2b64353cc8f0ebb7c77c965f
Surhud S. More
Associate Professor
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)
79257f54bde69ac8145ab5317b456d79cee9e34c
Amitesh Omar (India Co-Chair)
Associate Professor at Space Science & Astronomy
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK)
82ee6431dd5300c662d491c115771a7f752aeee4
Manoj Puravankara
Faculty member at the Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
53d27622e315c0095c608944a82a017d9741d814
A.N. Ramaprakash
Associate Programme Director - Board representative to the SAC
India TMT Coordination Center (ITCC)
6b4f3e703c110bb112e8846db4dae87fe517520a
Sivarani Thirupathi
Associate Professor
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru
C6b387426423e89ea2c2db5c4b04fc1b3af17029
Masayuki Akiyama (SAC Chair & Japan Co-Chair)
Professor
Tohoku University
Fd985d603057171e8faa0bc133039d563149d2a8
Mitsuhiko Honda
Associate Professor
Okayama University of Science
Cdde6196ecc52a331844ffa89435f4222d7cfd01
Norio Narita
Assistant Professor
Tokyo University
B606fa599c6676d2ef7d5a2811ad8878a1af68f1
Masaomi Tanaka
Associate Professor
Tohoku University
828f6470b5fd7a7a1b752776335f5b7fb16c7dbb
Tomonori Usuda
Professor - Board representative to the SAC
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) / TMT-J
11f92178db8d1e4a0c140f2ab6194e85ceaa9d19
Michael Bolte
TIO Board Member from University of California/Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of California Observatories/UC Santa Cruz
197e6c6bd9065b6a926dd939b325b60a7b405b68
Quinn Konopacky
Associate Professor
Physics, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, UC San Diego
28c47bbbfe7b71353b82d00d1b2517e69ec75293
Bruce Macintosh
Director UC Observatories
UC Santa Cruz
31d7c78f21733fca449dc38cf6c94fb47c9647a0
Tommaso Treu (SAC Deputy Chair & UC Co-Chair)
Professor, 2022 Fellow of the American Astronomical Society
UCLA
9e0010ca8bbf4ab02585fbbfa5a653632374e6d8
Ian Dell'Antonio
Professor
Brown University
3851f224c7899acb92b0d690127f70bd9d75abf9
Karen Meech
Professor
University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy
Bb86a15bc023e35e7b8af9cdaff7c8258ee779a7
Eric Peng (AURA Co-Chair)
Astronomer, US-ELT Program Project Scientist
NOIRLab
Fcb8c7416b0bd077e0448bc2f8b7c4bd1bbf04b9
Catherine Pilachowski
Distinguished Professor - Board representative to the SAC
Indiana University
8ef038aed2db0dc3814a3f6821b0d52c5252f38c
Len Cowie
Professor
University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy