Faculty Directory
Department Chair: Jonathan Fortney | Department Manager: Alyssa Danielli |
Vice Chair: Brant Robertson | Graduate Advisor: Brandon Day |
Graduate Program Director: Andrew Skemer | Department Assistant: Kali Lucas |
Undergraduate Program Director: Connie Rockosi | Astronomy Program Coordinator: Lani Skelton |

- Title
- Astronomer
- Emeritus Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division
- Department
- Astronomy & Astrophysics Department
- UC Observatories
- Phone 831-459-3454
- Website
- Office Location
- 191 Nat Sci 2
- Mail Stop UCO / Lick Observatory
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Astronomy, Astrophysics
Research Interests
My research deals with the design and construction of high-performance optics for astronomy. My pioneering collimator and camera designs for spectrographs such as COSMIC at Palomar, HECTOCHELLE and BINOSPEC on MMT, IMACS on Magellan I, and LRIS, HIRES, ESI and DEIMOS on Keck 1 and Keck 2 are key to modern quantitative investigations of the Universe by many optical astronomers. MOSFIRE, a fully cryogenic near-ir spectrograph for KECK 1, is my latest design. It will be the most powerful instrument of its kind in the world when it is commissioned early in 2011.
Biography, Education and Training
Academic Bio
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison (1964) in theoretical astrophysics.
Professor of Astronomy, UCLA 1965-1988
Visiting Scientist, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona 1973-1974
Visiting Scientist, OCIW (Carnegie, Pasadena) 1988-1989
Astronomer and Professor, UCSC 1989-Present
Consultant in Optical Design 1968-Present