Board of Advisors, Prof. Jack Burns

Prof. Jack Burns

Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado
Director of SSERVI Network for Exploration and Space Science (NESS)

Jack Burns headshot

Jack Burns is a Professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and Vice President Emeritus for Academic Affairs and Research for the University of Colorado. He is also Director of the NASA-funded SSERVI Network for Exploration and Space Science (NESS).

Burns received his B.S. degree, magna cum laude, in Astrophysics from the University of Massachusetts. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Indiana University. From 2001 through 2005, Burns served as Vice President for Academic Affairs & Research for the University of Colorado System. Burns was Vice Provost for Research at the University of Missouri – Columbia from 1997 through 2001. He was Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Burns was Department Head and Professor in the Department of Astronomy at NMSU from 1989 until 1996. During his tenure at the University of New Mexico from 1980 to 1989, Burns served as the Director of the Institute for Astrophysics and was a Presidential Fellow. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory from 1978 to 1980.

Burns has 430 publications as listed in NASA’s Astrophysics Data System. Burns is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal in 2010 and NASA’s Group Achievement Award for Surface Telerobotics in 2014. Burns was a member of the Presidential Transition Team for NASA in 2016/17. From 2014-17, Burns served as senior Vice President of the American Astronomical Society, the world’s premier organization of professional astronomers.

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