UPenn Physicist Chosen To Head Astrophysics Center

Charles A. Alcock, a theoretical physicist from the University of Pennsylvania, has been tapped to serve as the new director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

Alcock’s arrival at the world-famous center marks a critical moment for the field of astrophysics and for the sciences at Harvard, as the distribution of facilities for science in Allston and Riverside is gradually revealed.

Alcock will also have to address the relationship between Harvard and the Smithsonian. Clashes of ego and interest, particularly where hiring is concerned, have tarnished the generally cooperative interactions.

Negotiations for science space and faculty appointments, as well as determining the CfA’s future role in the global astrophysics community, will consume much of Alcock’s first year in his new post.

In addition to joining the astronomy department as a full faculty member, Alcock will serve as the director of the CfA’s other two components, the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO).

Alcock’s peers are confident that his experience balancing research and teaching prepared him for what has the potential to be an astronomical workload.

“There are a lot of important decisions within the CfA and nationwide to be made within the next year or two, and I suspect that a lot of what I’m going to be doing is guiding CfA participation,” Alcock said.

NO SPACE FOR OUTER SPACE

Dean of the Physical Sciences and the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti described how the trajectory of the center depends on upcoming developments.

“The CfA is at an important turning point because of all the changes happening in astronomy, physics and astrophysics,” Narayanamurti said. “Also, there are lots and lots of proposals to the Allston science task force including ones that will benefit astronomy.”

Property and space in the Cambridge area are prime concerns for science professors at Harvard, as many departments are experiencing space crunches.

Apart from expansion into Allston, the CfA is currently in talks to build a new research center at “Discovery Park” in Alewife.

The 115,000-square-foot space, which has generated much enthusiasm in Harvard’s astrophysics community, could sustain hundreds of researchers and allow the cramped department a little breathing room.

Some have also floated preliminary suggestions for the creation on Harvard’s Allston property of a center for the emerging field of astrobiology.

“We have an initiative as part of the Allston development committee for a Center for Cosmic Origins, which would look at biological development from an astronomic perspective,” said Astronomy Department Chair Lars Hernquist. “I think there is a lot of interest on the part of Harvard.”

Another concern is that the CfA and Harvard astronomy facilities are spread out over the campus, and the CfA building itself, situated up past the Radcliffe Quadrangle, is somewhat isolated from other sciences.

“Not all CfA people are in the same place,” Alcock said. “People are scattered all over the place and it’s not necessarily that healthy. But as to how and where [consolidation] will happen, I’ll have to take the fifth. Real estate decisions are difficult.”

Narayanamurti and Hernquist both pointed to several initiatives currently underway in the CfA—particularly discussions for Harvard’s participation in the construction of a new giant Magellan telescope—as examples of the direction in which the field is heading.

“The new telescope will be a great opportunity for Harvard to stay in the ranks of astronomy,” said Clowes Professor of Science Robert P. Kirshner. “That’s another thing that ends up on the director’s desk. He has to make the case to the University and others that this is something that really has to be supported.”

Alcock says his primary objective will be ensuring that Harvard constructs new facilities which will help advance science in his rapidly expanding field.

“What is fundamental is that the CfA is able to contribute to the x-ray center and the telescope,” he said.

...WE HAVE A PROBLEM

While Alcock says concerns about new facilities are “more important” than questions of faculty, major personnel issues loom on the horizon.

“Astronomy does need to make some appointments,” Narayanamurti said. “How that will be done will be a major effort with the Faculty and the Smithsonian.”

But appointments may be as hard to come by as new lab space. Harvard and the Smithsonian jointly sponsor five chairs in the astronomy department, according to an agreement by which the institute essentially provides funding and the University provides resources.

The five professors currently holding these spots are all over age 60. When they retire, the department will be short five faculty posts, and disputes between Harvard and the Smithsonian have impeded plans to refill the positions. According to Associate Dean of the Faculty Vincent J. Tompkins, no mechanism is in place to do so.

Hernquist, chair of the astronomy department, is not optimistic about resolving the joint-hires issue.

“That is a complicated negotiation between the two groups,” he said. “There does not seem to be much of a possibility of making joint positions in the near future for complicated reasons. The only possibility is for Harvard to give us more space for hiring.”

But tensions run high between the two organizations, which don’t always see eye-to-eye on methodology or planning decisions.

Solving those squabbles will mean bridging the gap between two powerful institutions—SAO, primarily a research organization, and the HCO, which is more closely tied to Harvard’s astronomy faculty and therefore more academically oriented.

“Negotiating different cultures between academic and research is never simple,” Narayanamurti said.

Alcock says he is aware of the historical tensions he will be confronting at the nexus of the Smithsonian and Harvard.

“They’re both powerful organizations with quite distinct cultures, and they don’t get always get along perfectly,” he said, “although in history people have tended to get along more often than not.”

Despite its history of bickering, Faculty of Arts and Sciences administrators described the process which led to Alcock’s selection as consensual and thorough, and there is a sense that the two groups want to see resolutions to problems with joint appointments.

“[The search] was a real example of cooperation between the Smithsonian and Harvard and we are both delighted with the outcome,” Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

A selection committee that included high-profile administrators from both Harvard and the Smithsonian launched an international search for the position just over a year ago.

The committee whittled down the list of candidates to three, leaving the ultimate decision to University President Lawrence H. Summers and Lawrence Small, secretary of the Smithsonian.

Hernquist, who has crossed paths with Alcock several times in their scientific careers but was not part of the search committee, said the appointment was good news for the department.

“Alcock was a good choice because he’s not somebody who’s well-known here,” Hernquist said. “He can get his job done without worrying about past history.”

Apart from the University of Pennsylvania, Alcock has previously held positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he led the University Collaborative Research Project, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2001 and was awarded the American Astronomical Society’s Beatrice M. Tinsley award in 2000.

Alcock said he is confident about his prospects.

“I see my job as a mission to make it possible for people to achieve their dreams and do science in a nurturing, intellectually sound place,” he said.

He will move into his CfA offices at 60 Garden St. this July.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.>