The corporate authority of USRA is vested in its 102 member universities through the USRA Council of Institutions, comprised of a representative from each member institution. The Council meets annually in Washington, D.C., to review the progress of the Association, provide policy guidance to the Board of Trustees, and elect members to the Board.
All USRA member institutions have graduate programs in the space sciences or aerospace engineering. There are 94 member institutions in the United States, two in Canada, two in England, one in Germany, two in Israel, and one in Australia. The member institutions are divided into nine regional groups, with the eight non-U.S. members forming their own region. Every three years, USRA appoints Regional Secretaries to represent their region's institutional membership in a variety of organizational matters. The current Council of Institutions Chair is Dr. Edward J. Groth; the Vice-Chair is Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen.
The Council’s Annual Meeting takes place on the last Friday of March or the first Friday of April in Columbia, Maryland. Dates and the agenda for this year’s meeting can be found on our Intranet for Council of Institutions Members (password required).
USRA’s Director of University Relations serves as the corporate liaison to our member institutions.
Click here for a copy of USRA’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (.pdf).
USRA members enjoy a wide range of benefits, from strong collaboration among its member institutions and USRA research entities to access to funded research opportunities.
Find out how to become a USRA member here.
