Curriculum Vita Professor Emeritus of Astronomy Santa Monica College Earth Science Department 1900 Pico Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90405-1628 fouts_gary@smc.edu SUMMARY Over forty-five years of experience in astronomy, including observation, research and publication, administration and management of a public observatory, public speaking, and in the last 29 1/2 years, teaching astronomy at Santa Monica College. I have had experience with budgets and administering of funds. I have had experience with large telescopes, photometric and spectrographic systems, along with their data reduction techniques. I am also familiar with a variety of computer systems and program languages. I have been responsible for defining and documenting various software procedures that were used to analyze spacecraft data. I have also had many years of experience as a liaison between various companies and outside special interest groups. I retired as of December 20, 2017. I hope to be an Adjunct Professor in the future. EDUCATION B.A. in Astronomy: 2 years El Camino Junior College, CA, 1972. 2 years San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, Graduated 1974. Senior Project - Photometric Studies on Quasar 3C273. Honors: Graduated from S.D.S.U. with Honors and Distinction in Field. M.S. in Astronomy: 2 1/2 years San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, Graduated 1977. Thesis topic: Baseline Atmospheric Extinction. Honors: Grade Point Average of 4.0.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Santa Monica College (September 1988 - December 2017). Professor of Astronomy. I taught the normal five-class contract plus two additional overload classes, as well as both summer and winter sessions. These classes consisted of lecture and laboratory classes in planetary and stellar astronomy. I was a major contributor to the Astronomy Program of the Earth Science Department. I was involved in finding, interviewing, recommending and evaluating adjunct professors. I prepared and submitted equipment proposals, computer proposals, astronomy faculty position request proposals, and observatory plan proposals. I was constantly involved in the scheduling of courses offered by the Astronomy Program. I have organized astronomy colloquia, and have participated in off-campus lectures and fund-raisers to promote the program and the planetarium. In 1989, I founded the school s Earth Science Club, which quickly morphed into the SMC Astronomy Club. Since that time, this club has served as a proponent for astronomy education on campus and in the community. Under my long-term guidance the club has purchased over $30,000 worth of equipment, which they are using regularly in their fieldwork. I have created World Wide Web pages for promoting my classes and the Astronomy Club. Please see http://homepage.smc.edu/fouts_gary. This site even has a nice work bio. I have participated in the Mt. Wilson Telescope in Education Program, and have occasionally used high technology equipment in presenting lectures. I have participated in STEM, CI-PAIR, the JPL SIRI program, the CalPoly CAMPARE program, and am currently doing research with a SMC CIMEL sun photometer through the Goddard Space Flight Center AERONET Program. I have led two Study Abroad Programs to Italy to help promote the SMC s Global Citizenship program. I incorporated the Digistar Planetarium into my lectures when appropriate. I maintained regular office hours and participated in academic and career advisement. I also participated in the normal staff development programs and departmental activities. I developed an archaeoastronomy class that is geared towards liberal arts students in an effort to introduce them to the sciences. I have won various Chair of Excellence Awards and mini-grants. I have always tried to promote the wonderful field of Astronomy to my students and the local residents of SMC. Computer Sciences Corporation (January 1985 - July 1988). Member of Technical Staff. I was responsible for designing, coding, documenting, and implementing routines used in the analysis of spacecraft data and in the evaluation of the ground system of the Hubble Space Telescope. Have created procedural documentation, libraries and utilities to assist in training new personnel. Served as liaison between CSC s Post Observation Data Processing System (PODPS) and external software groups. Personal research time was 15%, which resulted in various publications. I have also given public lectures on the goals of Space Telescope. Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories (3 3/4 years). Observer/Research Assistant. As the main observer on the Mt. Wilson 100 telescope, I conducted stellar radial velocity observations, using the Reticon detector at the 100 telescope s coude spectrograph. I also utilized a dual channel photometer. I created various FORTRAN programs and plotting routines, which assisted in my reducing the observations using the DEC VAX/VMS system. Publications resulted from my analysis of the data. These publications resulted in a better understanding of our galaxy s formation. One of these papers has been cited over 236 times, and led to my winning a professional paper competition. I supervised one research assistant, and occasionally introduced visiting astronomers to the various software reduction packages.
Citrus Community College (simultaneous with last two years at Mt. Wilson). Instructor/Lecturer. Taught lecture courses and lab courses in Physics and Astronomy (evening classes). As guest lecturer, I gave the weekly Planetarium Program for the month of October 1982. Goldendale Observatory (1 1/2 years). Director. I was responsible for administrative and managerial duties necessary for operation of this Science Center. I answered to a board of directors. Developed public and amateur astronomy programs. Gave public physics and astronomy lectures, concentrating on surrounding schools. Responsible for all observatory publicity including the Goldendale Observer newsletter, equipment maintenance including a 24 1/2 cassegrain telescope, and personnel supervision. Utilized a personal Apple II computer to produce programs in BASIC language. I played a major role in persuading the Washington Parks system and Governor Dixy Lee Ray into buying this interpretive center. Earl s Supply Co. (1 year). Shift supervisor. Supervised a shift of five people at a new heat exchanger manufacturing company. Worked with a new vacuum brazing process of aluminum. Redesigned a fin manufacturing process, and designed new holding jigs for use in the oven. San Diego State University (2 years). Teaching Assistant. While a graduate student, I was permitted to teach Astronomy lecture and laboratory classes. San Diego State University Foundation (3/4 year, part-time). Research Associate on a shortterm research grant. Used Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (APO) data to study the atmospheric ozone layer. Wrote various IBM 1130 and 360 programs to analyze data. Utilized various Volz sun photometers, and a filter wheel radiometer to take solar measurements. Smithsonian Institution (3/4 year). Archives Technician on a short-term research grant. Researched the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory s work on the solar constant. Deciphered archival records and tracked down missing bolographic plates. The data collected became vital to future ozone and atmospheric research studies. MEMBERSHIPS Associate Member of the Society of Sigma Xi. Member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Full Member of the American Astronomical Society. CREDENTIALS California Community College Instructor Credential, #174551. Issued December 12, 1978. Subject matter area: Astronomy/Astral Physics.
PUBLICATIONS Angione, R.J., Roosen, R.G., Fouts, G.A. (1977). Baseline Atmospheric Extinction. Bulletin American Astronomical Society, Vol. 9, #4, Part II, p. 614. Editor and author of the quarterly newsletter The Goldendale Observer. Sept. 1979 - Mar. 1981. Fouts, G., and Sandage, A. (1986). New Subdwarfs. V. Radial Velocities for 889 High-Proper- Motion Stars Measured with the Mount Wilson 100 Inch Reflector. Astronomical Journal, Vol. 91, #5, p. 1189. Sandage, A., and Fouts, G. (1987). New Subdwarfs. VI. Kinematics of 1125 High-Proper- Motion Stars and the Collapse of the Galaxy. Astronomical Journal, Vol. 92, #1, p. 74. Sandage, A., and Fouts, G. (1987). U, V, W Velocity Components for the Old Disk Using Radial Velocities of 1295 Stars in the Three Cardinal Galactic Directions. Astronomical Journal, Vol. 93, #3, p. 592. Fouts, G. (1987). Candidates for Spectroscopic Binaries Found in the Mount Wilson Halo- Mapping Program. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 99, p. 986. COMPUTER SKILLS I have used the IBM 1130 and 360, the DEC PDP-11 and VAX-11/780 computer systems; the Apple II, MacIntosh, and IBM PC microcomputers; IDM-500 and OMNIBASE software; and BASIC, C, Pascal and Fortran programming languages. I use the Microsoft Office programs: Access, Excel, Outlook, FrontPage, and PowerPoint. I have also become familiar with Photoshop.
HONORS Won the Johnny Drescher Chair of Excellence Award, 2008-2011 ($15000) Won the Johnny Drescher Chair of Excellence Award, 2005-2008 ($15000) Won three SMC Fellowships 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2011-2012 Won five SMC Foundation President s Circle Margin of Excellence Grants 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2014 Sabbatical, spring 2001. This sabbatical resulted in many computer-enhanced laboratory sessions, class aids, and a rooftop observatory proposal. Won Alpha Gamma Sigma s Instructors Excellence Award, fall 1998. Won the first Santa Monica College Associated Students Award, For making a difference in the lives of others, January 1996. Who s Who Among America s Teachers, 1995-96, 1997-98, 2003-04, 2004-05. Who s Who in Science and Engineering, 1991. First prize (plaque & $600 cash award) in the Professional Paper Competition, Computer Sciences Corporation, 1987. Who s Who in the East, 1986 & 1987. Full member of the American Astronomical Society, 1985. Elected to Sigma Xi (honorary society). Kiwanis Scholarship upon graduation from H.S., 1969.