Professor Penny D. Sackett

Sackett was appointed Director of the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories in 2002, serving a five year term. She is a member of both the Australian and American Astronomical Societies, the International Astronomical Union, and the Association for Women in Science.

She is an Elected International Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and sits on the AURA Board of Directors, which governs, among other astronomical centers, the Gemini Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute. Professor Sackett serves on the Board of Directors for the Giant Magellan Telescope, a project to build an optical telescope many times more powerful than in any existence in the world today. Sackett's personal research interests include dark matter, galactic structure, and extrasolar planets.