Dr. Arne Henden
(Board member 2022-2025)
Professional title at time of instatement: retired
While I was AAVSO Director for a decade, I also served on the Board both prior to and after that appointment, as I felt that the leadership of the Board in financial, membership and scientific areas is absolutely essential to the longevity and value of the AAVSO. Our finances are "ok," in that we have sufficient funds to support our membership and the community for the future, but we rely far too much on our Endowment. We need to find other sources of income, especially in grants and partnerships with other organizations. We need to be more aware of the needs of our membership, whether by making the website more user friendly, by providing more guidance as to important targets to monitor, or just in improving the way that we work together. The big opportunity in the future will be LSST, TESS and other surveys, where follow-up is absolutely essential. Improving the quality of our photometry and spectroscopy to beyond professional standards will create more demand for our observations. The more that we can make the AAVSO relevant to its members and the scientific community, the better its chance will be to grow in the next century. I look forward to being part of that process, and contributing my expertise where possible.