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University of Arizona scientist named to $2.5M endowed chair

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Thanks to a $2.5 million donation, the lead scientist on NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission is ensured to remain at the University of Arizona for at least five more years.

UA senior researcher Peter H. Smith was named Thursday as the university's first Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science.

The post will rotate every five years to reward top faculty for "transformational achievements" in their respective fields.

"This doesn't happen to many scientists. It's just an honor. I'm just as pleased as can be," Smith said Thursday.

Smith is the principal investigator of NASA's Phoenix Mars Scout Mission, whose spacecraft is scheduled to land on the red planet May 25. The mission has drawn international attention because of its ability to verify the possible presence of water and habitable conditions in the Martian arctic.

The new UA chair was created through a donation from the Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation to establish an endowment, which will make yearly payouts. Typically, endowments go to enhance the existing salary of the faculty member who receives the chair, and the faculty member then uses the funds for research and teaching in his or her field.

The University of Arizona Foundation invests donations into its endowment fund and makes the payouts on behalf of the university.

The $2.5 million gift brings the Brown Family Foundation's total donations to the UA to $6.5 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

In October, the foundation donated $4 million to endow two faculty chairs: one in the College of Engineering and one in the Eller College of Management. Each college received a $2 million gift to establish its endowment.

The foundation is named for engineer and entrepreneur Thomas Brown, who co-founded Tucson-based Burr-Brown Corp. in 1956. The company was acquired by Texas Instruments in 2000.

Brown, who died in 2002, wanted his wealth to be used to support organizations and individuals that are integral to the Tucson community.

"He was someone I admired. Burr-Brown is kind of a pinnacle of excellence here in Tucson for making electronics," said Smith, who is 60. "I'm really going to try to make the best use of this that I can."

Sarah Brown Smallhouse, Thomas Brown's daughter, called it a privilege to be able to recognize Smith's achievements. "I think my dad would have really appreciated the creativity, boldness and tenacity of the work he's done," she said.

The first payout to the new science position — expected to be $100,000 — begins next year, said the UA Foundation.

UA records list Smith's current salary as $180,874 — $112,000 of that from the state.

Though Smith is already known around the world, a successful Mars lander mission could mean even more prestige for him and possibly attractive job offers, too.

"Anytime you have a major success, as we hope Phoenix will be, the scientist in charge is a hot property," said Michael J. Drake, a Regents professor and director of the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

"We nearly lost Jonathan Overpeck, one of the lead writers of the Nobel Prize-winning Climate Change Report, for similar reasons," said Drake, commenting the day after Overpeck, a climate scientist wooed by another university, announced he has decided to stay at UA.

"If the University of Arizona loses the top 2 percent of its faculty," Drake said, "it will fall forever out of the ranks of major research universities and cease to be an engine for the economy of Arizona, with consequent loss of high-paying jobs."

Drake said Smith's tenacity, character and belief in the importance of exploring Mars — particularly in the face of disappointments — are major reasons the UA's 50-year-old space program has continued. When the 1999 Mars Polar Lander failed and the 2001 Mars Surveyor was canceled, Smith was not discouraged by the setbacks. Both included UA cameras.

Smith said Thursday that he plans on staying at the UA. "I've been here for 30, I can hang on for another five," he joked.

Daily news coverage of the UA-led Mars mission starts Sunday in the Star, as we count down to the historic May 25 landing on the red planet.