August 27, 2020 - The 2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)/Rubin Observatory awards ceremony was held virtually today, recognizing the exemplary work of four Rubin individual staff members and one Rubin team during the past year. The ceremony, which was translated into Spanish in real time for Rubin colleagues in Chile, also highlighted AURA staff members who have reached milestone years of service with Rubin Observatory.

Introductory statements by Matt Mountain, President of AURA, and Steve Kahn, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction, acknowledged the particular challenges that both AURA and Rubin Observatory faced this year related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and congratulated the Rubin team on making significant progress despite the obstacles faced.

Mario Hamuy, Vice President and Head of Mission for AURA Observatory in Chile; and Mario Gonzáles, Safety and Environmental Manager and President of the AURA Union; and
Lynda Dec, Head of Human Resources for AURA also gave congratulatory addresses before the awards were announced.

The AURA award winners for 2020 are:

• Science - Brian Stalder, Assistant Commissioning Scientist
• Outstanding Service - Sandra Romero, Proventionista/Safety Coordinator
• Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion - Sandrine Thomas, Telescope & Site System Scientist & Workplace Culture Advocate
• Technology & Innovation - Tiago Ribeiro de Souza, Telescope & Site Scheduler Scientist and Software Architect
• Team Award - Data Management SQuARE Team
• (Frossie Economou, Angelo Fausti, Simon Krughoff, Adam Thornton, Christine Banek, Jonathan Sick, & Russell Owen)

The following Rubin Observatory staff members were recognized for 5 years of service:

• Shawn Callahan
• Joseph Cockrum
• Patrick Ingraham
• Sandrine Thomas
• Tim Jenness
• Veronica Kinnison
• Nicole Auza
• Juan Lopez
• Enrique Figueroa (5 years with Rubin, but 50 years with AURA!)

The following Rubin Observatory staff members were recognized for 20 years of service:

• Claudio Araya Cortés
• Ed Hileman

The following Rubin Observatory staff member was recognized for 25 years of service:

• Chuck Claver

Congratulations to everyone recognized at this event! The full presentation can be viewed at this link [1].