Bowling Green, Ky. - Dr. Charles McGruder, the McCormack Professor of Physics at Western Kentucky University, has been appointed to the National Research Council's Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The committee, which is appointed by the president of National Academy of Sciences, monitors the status of space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics and provides assessments to the National Science Foundation, NASA and other institutions as a joint committee of the Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy. The overall objective is to encourage progress in astronomy and astrophysics and to assist the federal government in planning programs in these fields.

Dr. McGruder, who has been at WKU since 1993, will serve a three-year term on the committee. He was head of WKU's Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1993 to 2002 and is a past president of the National Society of Black Physicists.

His research interests include extrasolar planets, gamma ray bursts and the construction of a worldwide network of fully robotic imaging telescopes. He also has worked on the proposed Kentucky Academy of Mathematics and Science at WKU.

Dr. McGruder has a bachelor's degree in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology and a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Prior to coming to WKU, Dr. McGruder spent time at Vanderbilt University, Fisk University and the University of Nigeria. He was a visiting professor at WKU during the 1989-90 school year.

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For information, contact Charles McGruder at (270) 745-5277.