Prof. Alan P. Marscher obtained his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Virginia in 1977 after completing his undergraduate work at Cornell University (BS in Engineering Science in 1973) and his Master’s degree in Astronomy at Virginia (1974). His thesis was a theoretical study of the synchrotron radiation from quasars and other active galactic nuclei (AGNs) when gradients in magnetic field and relativistic electron density are included. Prof. Marscher joined the Boston University faculty in 1981 after postdoctoral research positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (sponsored by the National Research Council) and the University of California at San Diego. He served as chair of the Boston U Department of Astronomy from 1986 to 1997, as acting chair in 2015–16, and as associate chair from 2018 to the present; as associate dean for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences from 1999 to 2003; as director of the University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching from 2003 to 2007; and as director of the Institute for Astrophysical Research from 2011 to 2015. His research interests include quasars, active galaxies, high-energy astrophysics, fine structure of interstellar clouds, radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy.