Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics and Associate Director of the Colorado Space Policy Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Burns was a member of the NASA Presidential Transition Team in 2016-2017.  

He chaired the Science Committee for the NASA Advisory Council and received NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal.  

He is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronomical Society, and the International Society of Astronautics.