{"id":139444,"date":"2021-04-15T08:48:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T18:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=139444"},"modified":"2021-04-16T09:45:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:45:57","slug":"simons-shares-vision-for-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/15\/simons-shares-vision-for-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Simons shares vision for future as astronomy institute director"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manoa-astronomy-director-simons.jpg\" alt=\"Doug Simons\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-139068\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manoa-astronomy-director-simons.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manoa-astronomy-director-simons-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manoa-astronomy-director-simons-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The incoming director of the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ifa.hawaii.edu\/\">Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (<abbr>IfA<\/abbr>), <strong>Doug Simons<\/strong> has a set of priorities that he calls the &ldquo;three pillars&rdquo;&#8212;ramping up research, expanding technology development and retaining <abbr>IfA<\/abbr>\u2019s world-class education. Simons\u2019 appointment as the leader of one of the world\u2019s premier astronomy programs became official at the Board of Regents April 15 meeting.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Over many years <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> has sustained phenomenal adaptive optics and infrared array development programs. That technology helped to build astronomy world-wide,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It\u2019s being used on Maunakea and around the world and we look to continue to build on that success.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Related <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/12\/simons-new-director-institute-for-astronomy\/\">Doug Simons named new director for <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Institute for Astronomy<\/a>, April 12, 2021<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The veteran <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island astronomer is also focused on renewal of <abbr>UH<\/abbr>\u2019s master lease for Maunakea which is set to expire in 2033. The university is seeking to continue its stewardship of the revered site that holds cultural, historic and environmental significance and also provides opportunities to carry out critical research.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The science impact of Maunakea astronomy is consistently top ranked worldwide. In many ways ensuring a future for <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy helps leverage a bright future for astronomy globally.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Simons also has an unwavering vision of merging Hawaiian knowledge and traditions with contemporary astronomy and has been a champion of community engagement and astronomy education on <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island and across the state. He has worked alongside <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo Hawaiian language expert <strong>Larry Kimura<\/strong> to pinpoint extraordinary similarities between the ancient Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo and the Big Bang theory. In their presentation, The Physics of P\u014d and the P\u014d of Physics, the two scholars articulate how similar Hawaiian and Western ideologies are in explaining how the Universe was formed.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> is uniquely positioned to be an example for the world that Indigenous ways of knowing can enhance contemporary science,&rdquo; Simons said.<\/p>\n<p>He helped establish <a href=\"https:\/\/imiloahawaii.org\/a-hua-he-inoa\">A Hua He Inoa<\/a>, a program where Hawaiian speaking students and educators work with <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-based astronomers to create names in <span aria-label=\"olelo\">&#699;&#333;lelo<\/span> <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language) for astronomical discoveries made in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Simons also aims to expand opportunities for <abbr>IfA<\/abbr> students to train at the observatories on Maunakea on <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island and Haleakal\u0101 on Maui. Simons earned his <abbr title=\"doctor of philosophy\">PhD<\/abbr> from <abbr>IfA<\/abbr> in 1990 and has worked on Maunakea since, most recently as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfht.hawaii.edu\/\">Canada-France-<span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Telescope<\/a> executive director since 2012 and the Gemini Observatory director from 2006\u201311. He attributes access to telescopes during his days as an <abbr>IfA<\/abbr> graduate student as an important part of his success in the field of astronomy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The experience of being able to observe on Maunakea, to work with engineers, I was so well prepared to be a professional astronomer when I graduated.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Consistent community and educational outreach is vital for Simons, especially among <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s keiki. He led the launch of the <a href=\"https:\/\/maunakeascholars.com\/\">Maunakea Scholars program<\/a>, where public high school students can apply for observing time across the Maunakea Observatories. His mission is to continue to connect and inspire youngsters about astronomy with the hope they will realize their future aspirations at <abbr>IfA<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy has been my life\u2019s work since I arrived at Â鶹´«Ã½in 1986 and sat in my first class. This is a very personal journey that I hope will lead to great outcomes for our community and <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy,&rdquo; said Simons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doug Simons has a set of priorities that he calls the &ldquo;three pillars&rdquo;&#8212;ramping up research, expanding technology development and retaining <abbr>IfA<\/abbr>\u2019s world-class education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193],"tags":[34,35,9],"class_list":["post-139444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","tag-astronomy","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139444"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139570,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139444\/revisions\/139570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}