Quotes from Industrial Astronomers
In the USA and Europe, astronomy graduates are highly valued in a wide variety of industries including finance, aerospace, advertising, biotechnology, telecommunications and publishing. Particularly appreciated are the astronomers' abilities in understanding basic scientific issues and in conceptualizing and evaluating systems level solutions. Their software and IT abilities are often better than those of computer science graduates and their written and verbal communications skills are good. There should be no difficulty in finding an African market for the skills acquired during an astronomy education, provided that the courses are well constructed and that the skills of the astronomers are properly marketed. As the Vice-President of Bank One puts it: "A training that might have been thought to be irrelevant to business has turned out to be one of the most important of all." The following quotes are from people trained in astronomy, who now work in industry and commerce.
Rachel Pyldis at Leo Burnett
Tamara Payne at Schafer Corporation
Steve Kilson at Ball Aerospace
Steve Jordan at Ball Aerospace
Austin B. Tomane at Applied Biosystems
Kevin B. Marvel at American Astronomical Society
Vincent Lee at Verizon Communications
Eric Schulman at Defense Industry
Bernie Fanaroff at Government Consultant
Amber Iler at Veridan ERIM International
Harry Blom at Publishing