Lawrence Rudnick

Director of Graduate Studies, (Astronomy) 1980-1994 (approx.); Professor of Astronomy, 1987 –; Interim Chair, Dept. of Astronomy (2004-5). University of Minnesota Award for Outstanding Community Service, 2005; George Taylor (IT) Distinguished Service Award, 2004; Morse-Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, 1998; IT Outstanding Teaching Award in Astronomy, 1991; George Taylor / IT Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, 1990; Member: AAS , IAU, ASP.

Public outreach and K-12 education have been major components of Rudnick’s professional career. He chaired the advisory committee for the Minneapolis Planetarium from 1980 until it was dismantled as part of a new library reconstruction in 2001. In 2003, he helped incorporate and is a founding board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society, which has obtained $22M from the State of MN to build a new planetarium and is currently working with Hennepin County and doing private fund raising to secure the project. For 14 years (1983-96) he was a consultant and on-screen expert for public TV’s Newton’s Apple, and helped in the launch of the DragonflyTV. For many years he worked on teacher professional development in the Minneapolis Public Schools, serving on their advisory committee from 1992-2002 and served as co-PI on a $5M NSF Local Systemic Initiative grant that trained K-8 teachers in hand-on, kit-based science. He currently (2004- ) serves on the Astronomy Education Board of the AAS. From 2000-2006 he served on the NRAO Director’s Advisory Committee.