Alan Marscher is professor of astronomy and director of the Boston University Center for Excellence in Teaching. He currently teaches The Evolution of the Universe and the Earth, a course in the core curriculum of the College of Arts and Sciences. Marscher received a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Cornell University, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in astronomy from the University of Virginia. He did postdoctoral research at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of California, San Diego.