In brief

Robert B. Kerr has been appointed director of the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, succeeding Timothy Hankins, who had served as interim observatory director since September. In his new post, Kerr, whose most recent position was as a program director in aeronomy at NSF, is responsible for maintaining the observatory’s scientific and technical program and developing new science and technology capabilities. He was named to the position in February by Cornell University’s National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which manages the observatory for competitive use by more than 250 telescope users annually.

NASA has named S. Alan Stern associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, following the retirement in March of Mary L. Cleave. A planetary scientist, Stern joined NASA from the Southwest Research Institute’s space science and engineering division in Boulder, Colorado, where he served as executive director. Stern began this month in his new position, where he is responsible for all of the agency’s space science, Earth science, astrophysics, and planetary science missions and research activities with an annual budget of $5.3 billion.