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Meet the Director and
the Assistant Director

Director Gary Krenz

The Detroit Observatory is managed by the Bentley Historical Library and is under the direction of Gary Krenz.

Gary joined the Bentley as director for post-bicentennial planning in 2018. He previously served as executive director of the U-M Bicentennial Office from 2013 to 2018. He was special counsel to the U-M president, acting as an advisor on presidential initiatives, planning, issue management, and policy development.

Assistant Director
Austin Edmister

Austin Edmister serves as assistant director for astronomy at the Detroit Observatory. Austin holds a BS in physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MS in astrophysics from Michigan State University. He has over a decade of experience using telescopes and planetariums to teach about the wonders of the night sky.

Meet our student
docents and staff

Lailyn Borum

Docent

College of LSA, Astronomy and Astrophysics

Eva Chavez

Docent

College of LSA, Anthropology and Museum Studies

Timothy Fanning

Docent

College of LSA, Physics

Riley Fish

Docent

College of LSA, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Interdisciplinary Physics

Katya Gozman

Docent

Rackham Graduate School, Astronomy and Astrophysics

Sophia Grant

Docent

College of LSA, History and International Studies

Sanil Mittal

Docent

College of LSA, Astronomy and Astrophysics

Olivia Mouradian

Communications Assistant

College of LSA, English

Bennett Walling

Docent

College of LSA, History

Xi Yuan Zheng

Docent

College of LSA, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology