Michael West is a professor of astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He received his PhD in astronomy from Yale University in 1987, and held teaching and research positions in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands and the Gambia (western Africa) before joining the University of Hawaii in 1999. Dr. West's research interests include galaxy formation and evolution, star clusters, clusters of galaxies, and the large-scale structure of the universe, and he is a frequent user of telescopes on Mauna Kea and the Hubble Space Telescope. He also served for three years as chief astronomy content developer for the new $28 million NASA-funded Imiloa Astronomy Center, which will open in Hilo in early 2006. In addition, he recently published a book titled "A Gentle Rain of Starlight: The Story of Astronomy on Mauna Kea." Dr. West was inspired to become an astronomer after reading one of Carl Sagan's many wonderful books while in high school.