Roberto Abraham is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto and President of the Canadian Astronomical Society, the professional counterpart to the RASC. He obtained his BSc from University of British Columbia and his doctorate from Oxford. His work is focused on observations of galaxy formation and evolution and on the development of innovative instruments, such as the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, which has made a number of interesting discoveries over the last few years. 

Prof. Abraham is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (the country’s National Academy) and his work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Canadian Astronomical Society’s P. G. Martin Award, the Canada Foundation for Innovation Career Award, a Canada Council Killam Fellowship, the NSERC Steacie Fellowship, and a Premier’s Research Excellence Award. 

He is serving on the Science Advisory Committee for the Thirty Meter Telescope, and has served as Canada’s representative on the James Webb Space Telescope Advisory Committee and on the board of directors of the Gemini International Observatory. He has advised NASA by serving as a Panel Chair on the Hubble Space Telescope time allocation committee four times. 

In a secret life unknown to his professional colleagues, he joined the RASC at age 12 and is a keen backyard astronomer with a telescope collection spanning the range from a tiny 50mm Zeiss refractor to a 14.5" Starmaster Dobsonian with a Zambuto mirror that he loves with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns.