Mathematics staff member and amateur astronomer Doug Slauson delivers public astronomy lecture

Thursday, July 2, 2015

University of Iowa staff member Douglas Slauson delivered a public lecture entitled, “Lunar Topography and Lunar Imaging” to an audience of 81 adults and 20 children at the Eastern Iowa Observatory and Learning Center on June 27. Following the lecture, visitors stayed to enjoy views of the moon and planets through the observatory’s telescopes.

Slauson is the Administrative Service Coordinator in the Department of Mathematics, part of the UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and enjoys amateur astronomy as a hobby. He is a current member and the former president of the Cedar Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that offers free educational programs, presentations, guided observing sessions, and special programs in astronomy and related sciences. The group offers monthly public events, many of them presentations given by CLAS faculty and staff, particularly in the Department of Physics & Astronomy.


The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.