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Alejandro de la Puente, the new director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.

I grew up in a country where the opportunity to experience science as a very young student was not equitable. I don’t remember learning about the beauty of mathematics, the importance of data, or of equations—ingredients critical to the scientific method, the framework which gives humanity the ability to understand and reflect on the physical world. 

I grew up cultivated by my mother; she cared about my education but encouraged me to pursue a career in medicine or law. I grew up without the breadth of knowledge critical to the formation of a future scientist. I was, however, fascinated by the concept of optimization, by a feeling that there existed a set of initial conditions that when brought together could unpack the phenomena we observe and experience. I paid attention to this, even as I grew older; I knew, in the theoretical sense, that if I did things a certain way, I could achieve perfection. I learned to theorize. That drove me. 

I arrived in North America at the young age of 14, mature enough to know I would dearly miss my friends and family in Peru. My first experience as a newcomer was high school, and all I remember is how different it was from what I had known all my life, how difficult it was to adjust to a new system, and how challenging it was to start from zero. I remember thinking deeply about what I wanted to become, who I wanted to be. 

I found out I could theorize about my place in this new country. I learned that over the years, many others had made a similar transition and, through hard work and dedication, developed deep insights about the world. This process was not straightforward, and it was not without interruptions, barriers, and limitations. I worked arduously to unlock the full potential of my imagination. 

As someone new to the United States, the taste of opportunity was always there, but the path to success was somewhat obscure. What got me through high school and up to the best times of my life was probably my imagination—again, the thought that I could optimize my way anywhere, that I could be anything I wanted to be. As I discovered the future I wanted, I prepared myself for higher education and the possibilities that attending a university presented.

Enrolling in university was not easy. I learned very early that high school does not necessarily prepare you optimally to succeed in higher education. I had to reinforce foundational coursework to propel myself into upper division classes in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and philosophy. However, as I climbed the undergraduate ladder, I fell deeper and deeper in love with science, with knowledge. I had found my path. I was happy and thriving. 

My journey through higher education helped me realize that I could build my own renaissance from the ground up, that I could learn it all. It taught me that disciplines need not be constrained by their self-imposed borders. That energy is a scale, and that your experience of it can expose you to vastly different phenomena. That the Greeks had once established a society where the public was civically active and used language to structure learning and experience. That 1920s advances in our understanding of the statistical nature of universal laws would revolutionize how we communicate and solve problems today. I knew then that I was in the right place. I had found a way to optimize my reality and merge my passion for knowledge with my insatiable desire to support underserved communities and youth, and to make resources and opportunities accessible and share them with as many people as I could.

I wanted my own path, and I wanted it to be colorful, just, and meaningful. I wanted to do science that could impact the world around me, both laterally and vertically. I earned a PhD and did research but decided not to make it my sole focus. 

I contributed immensely to my discipline but not in the “purest” way, albeit most likely optimally. I built a career as a science communicator and worked to democratize learning in underserved communities through grassroots interventions. I immersed myself in the world of institutional theory and the process by which culture is created and meanings are shared. 

I learned that there is a path to transform education, a framework that fits and optimizes everyone’s learning. I worked with scientists from all backgrounds, helping them with their own transformations, navigating careers and becoming leaders in their fields, communities, and lives. I worked on the concept of readiness, or how limited resources are made available to sustain and train the workforce. And lastly, I worked to optimize this process by analyzing data and the power of transformation. I built my own renaissance.

My commitment, as the new director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma, is to help you, wherever you are right now, to lead your own renaissance, to amplify your voice and empower your unique journey. I want SPS to shine light on the multiplicity of routes to being a physicist or astronomer, help you on the path to realizing your own future, catalyze the conditions for institutions to meet you where you are, and nurture a welcoming and empowering physical sciences and astronomy enterprise. I want to work with you to ensure that each of you can help shape the future of the physical sciences and astronomy in higher education, the workforce, and society.