External Committees
NRAO/GBO Users Committee
The Users Committee (UC) is made up of users and potential users of NRAO and GBO facilities from throughout the scientific community. It advises the NRAO and GBO Directors and the Observatory staff on all aspects of Observatory activities that affect the users of the telescopes. This committee, which is appointed by the NRAO and GBO Directors, meets annually.
The membership of the NRAO/GBO Users Committee for 2026 is listed below. In 2014, NRAO integrated the ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee (ANASAC) as a standing subcommittee of the Users Committee. Users Committee members who also serve on the ANASAC are indicated, as are the ANASAC representatives to the international ALMA Science Advisory Committee (ASAC).
- Kate Alexander, University of Arizona (2029)
- Sean Andrews, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2026) ANASAC
- Caitlin Casey, University of California, Santa Barbara (2030) ANASAC
- Shami Chatterjee, Cornell University (2029)
- Thankful Cromartie, U.S. Navel Research Laboratory (2030)
- Jane Huang, Columbia University (2028)
- Melodie Kao, Lowell Observatory (2026)
- Jens Kauffmann, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2030)
- Ryan Keenan, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (2030)
- Adam Leroy, Ohio State University (2028)
- Elisabeth (Betsy) A.C. Mills, University of Kansas (2027)
- Cherry Ng, University of Toronto (2026)
- Jennie Paine, University of Colorado Boulder (2026)
- Daniel Perley (Chair), Liverpool John Moores University (2026)
- Tony Wong, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2027)
The Users Committee Charge (pdf).
The NRAO/GBO Users Committee has created a web form to receive comments and suggestions from the astronomical community regarding any aspect of the Observatory’s scientific operations.
ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee
The ANASAC provides scientific advice to the NRAO director on the science operation of ALMA and the North American ALMA Science Center, as representatives of the wider North American astronomical community.
- Sean Andrews, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2027)
- Caitlin Casey, University of California, Santa Barbara (2028)
- Martin Cordiner, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2028)
- Sara Ellison, University of Victoria (2027)
- Leslie Looney, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2027)
- Meredith MacGregor, Johns Hopkins University (2027)
- Kazushi Sakamoto, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (2026)
- Karin Sandstrom, University of California, San Diego (2027)
Bold = Member of ALMA Science Advisory Committee (ASAC)
The NRAO Visiting Committee
The NRAO Visiting Committee is appointed by the AUI Board of Trustees to review the management and research programs of the Observatory. The Visiting Committee meetings are held at alternating NRAO sites. The current membership of the Committee is:
- Paul Abell, NASA Johnson Space Center (2027)
- Lewis Ball (Chair), SKAO (2025)
- Alessandra Corsi, The Johns Hopkins University (2027)
- Jeremy Darling, University of Colorado at Boulder (2025)
- Kevin Marvel, American Astronomical Society (2027)
- Lynn Matthews, MIT Haystack Observatory (2025)
- Margaret Meixner, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2027)
- Beth Willman, LSST Discovery Alliance (2025)
