Sean Dougherty is a Canadian astrophysicist who has been involved in a large number of radio astronomical facilities, both Canadian and international. Dougherty obtained a degree in mathematics and physics from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

in 1983, and after that he pursued a doctorate in astrophysics at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1993. Dougherty has more than 20 years of expertise in radio astronomy, managing and representing Canadian contributions to international radio astronomical facilities, and also research and development projects. Dougherty has also led the construction and delivery of the WIDAR correlator to the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA). He also led an international consortium that designed the correlator (Central Signal Processor) of the

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...

(SKA) Phase 1 mid-frequency telescope (SKA1-Mid). Dougherty was selected for the position of

ALMA Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

Director in July 2017 for a five year period, starting February 21, 2018. In January of 2023, his term as ALMA Director was extended an additional 5 years, February 2023 - January 2028. Dougherty was previously the director of the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO), the national facility for radio astronomy of Canada. DRAO is administrated by the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was a member of the ALMA Board representing the North American executive for four years, and has been the president for the ALMA Budget Committee for two years. Dougherty initiated the efforts for the establishment of the ALMA 2030 Roadmap, which resulted in the launch of the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade, the first large update of the facility since the inauguration of

in March 2013. Dougherty has more than 180 publications as of January 2024, of which around 85 are refereed.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian astrophysicists Alumni of the University of Nottingham University of Calgary alumni Radio astronomers {{Astronomer-stub