We are excited about the upcoming enhanced BoV Annual Meeting, July 16-17, 2010, at McDonald Observatory. As you can tell from your invitation materials, we have made several changes to the format and programming of the meeting that we hope will make your experience more engaging and enjoyable. 20100629-01 signth.jpg Since the State of Texas cannot purchase alcoholic beverages for our BoV functions, it is necessary for us to take up a collection each year to do so. The time is on us again. 20100629-04 domesth.jpg http://www.as.utexas.edu Department of Astronomy Two graduates of The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy are included in the 125 Extraordinary Exes, a list compiled to celebrate 125 years of the Texas Exes. Dr. Beatrice M. Tinsley, Ph.D. '67, was a leading expert on the evolution of galaxies and served as the first female astronomy professor at Yale University. Every year, McDonald Observatory and the Department of Astronomy honor her memory by inviting several outstanding astronomers to present their research, as the Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Professor and the Tinsley Scholars, younger scientists of exceptional promise. 20100629-05 tinsleyth.jpg Advertising students from The University of Texas at Austin competed for a prize award for the best design for a McDonald Observatory logo in 2009-2010. Winners included members of the Supernova Group (Anita Demia, Mary Feng, Kendra Gunn, Chris Kim, and Wes Muniz) and the Hexagon Faction (Sally Bage, Jessica Chiu, Natalie Gover, Hua Liu, Adele Pitzer, and Monica Vasquez). Thanks to these and all the students who competed, with oversight from BoV member and UT Dept. of Advertising and Public Relations Chair, Dr. Isabella Cunningham. 20100629-06 farawayth.jpg Thanks to the generous support of Ruthie and Paul Premack of San Antonio, McDonald Observatory will be actively working to raise public awareness of dark skies and lighting control issues. 20100629-07 darkskiesth.jpg BoV Life Member Donna Pierce was recognized by the Highland Park Independent School District for her 30 years of service as the Director of the Highland Park Planetarium. She has also worked for 15 years as the planetarium docent and educator at the Dallas Health and Science Museum (now known as Museum of Nature and History). 20100629-08 pierceth.jpg 17 new members are up for nomination at the July 17, 2010 Board of Visitors Meeting. 20100629-09 hjth.jpg Following the February BoV meeting, a focus group representing all constituencies in the Observatory and Department recommended that an outside professional firm be engaged to design a new logo. 20100629-10 logoth.jpg Earlier this year, members of the Board of Visitors were asked to consider the possibility of creating a nonprofit foundation to benefit McDonald Observatory. Several BoV members submitted comments on this possibility. 20100629-13 hetth.jpg The Board of Visitors Executive Committee has created a BoV committee, charged with reaching out to the membership about planned giving. We welcome as members: Frank Bash, of Austin; Anne Boyd, of Dallas; Bob England, of Flower Mound; Joe and Sallie Tarride, of Fort Worth; and Francis Wright, of San Antonio. 20100629-11 wjmth.jpg Meeting minutes, audio, video and presentation slides from the Mid-Winter meeting are now available on the Meetings page of the Board of Visitors website. 20100629-12 febmeetingth