Merri Sue Carter

Carter was born on November 16, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio,^[1] where her father, William E. Carter, was studying geodesy at Ohio State University. He became a research geodesist for the United States Air Force, the University of Hawaii, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the family moved frequently as Carter was growing up.^[2]

She graduated from University of Maryland, College Park in 1986, and earned a master's degree in 1999 through University of Maryland University College. She has been an astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory since 1986.^[1] There, she directs the World Data Center for the Rotation of the Earth, Washington, which coordinates data for the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service.^[1][3]

With her father, Carter is the author of:

• Latitude: How American Astronomers Solved the Mystery of Variation (Naval Institute Press, 2002), on the Chandler wobble^[4]
• Simon Newcomb: America's Unofficial Astronomer Royal (Mantanzas Publishing, 2006), a biography of Simon Newcomb^[5]