I am delighted to announce that Professor Željko Ivezić of the University of Washington has agreed to take on the role of Deputy Director of the LSST Construction Project, effective September 1, 2018.
Željko has been associated with the LSST Project since its inception in the early 2000’s. As Project Scientist, he has taken primary responsibility for ensuring that the design and construction of the LSST system will be optimized for its scientific mission. In this capacity, he has chaired the Project Science Team, and played a major role in both internal and external reviews of the project. Željko brings a wealth of expertise and experience in survey astronomy in a variety of fields ranging from solar system science to studies of the structure of the Milky Way and cosmology.
Željko will retain his position as Project Scientist, but in his additional new capacity as Deputy Director, he will assist Victor Krabbendam and me in the overall management and direction of the program. He will be involved in all aspects of the project, but will take special responsibility for data management and interactions with the external scientific community.
I look forward to increasing my own interactions with Željko, and I hope you will all welcome him into this new position.
Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our former Deputy Director, Dr. Beth Willman, for all that she contributed to LSST for the last three years.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Kahn
LSST Director