Sixto González
González returned to the island in 1985 and enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao to study Applied Physics and Electronics, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in 1988.He and Jose Alonso, educational officer at the observatory, and Maiella Ramos (UPR) created a new program of firsthand research experience in geosciences for high school students and their teachers and for undergraduates in northwest Puerto Rico.González was responsible for the overall management of the facility, including the executions of basic policy that maintains the observatory at the front of research in astronomy, planetary studies and space and atmospheric science.In early 2009, a "Dear Colleague" letter from Dana Lehr announced the following: "NSF will compete the next cooperative agreement for the management and operation of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) through an open, merit-based review process...."[4] In early June 2011 the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that the cooperative agreement to manage, operate and maintain the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico for the next five years (from 2011 to 2016) would be awarded to SRI International.[5] Gonzalez retired as Director for Space and Atmospheric Sciences at the Arecibo Observatory that was part of SRI's Center for Geospace Studies.