Retirees

Neal Armstrong Regents Professor Most Important UA Career Highlights

A fabulous assortment of UA + non-UA collaborators (faculty and staff) made it possible for me to play in different scientific areas for the last 46 years—supervising or co-supervising 49 PhD students, ca. 200 undergraduates, ca. 50 postdocs and visiting scientists, etc.—all supported by NSF, DOE, DoD and countless big and small companies. On my own only about 10% of this was possible; with bigger teams it was a blast!

Photo courtesy of Neal Armstrong

Key Mentors and Colleagues

• George Wilson and Mike Burke who took me to lunch in the early years after faculty meetings to explain to me what had

REALLY just happened. • Hank Hall who passed on pages of the paper version of

Chem. Abstracts with articles that I needed to read and arranged for Xerox, Kodak, and IBM to hire me as a consultant—changing the course of my career. • More than one department head who reminded me that the votes to hire and promote me (twice) were not unanimous ...and colleagues like John Enemark and David O’Brien who told me how lucky UA was to have me! • Mike Cusanovich who, as VPR, subjected me to massive amounts of cigarette smoke but who explained to me how the University really worked and how to think strategically, take risks and not worry too much failure and defeat. • Presidents John Schaefer and Henry Koffler who hired extraordinary faculty—truly inspirational! • Professors Jeanne Pemberton and Scott Saavedra—Jeanne was a trailblazer at UA in ways that I couldn’t recognize until later in my career. Now I marvel at the path she carved here. And Scott, who was never that impressed with my big vision, which was GREAT!, and who kept us both focused on what mattered, working tirelessly to make sure those big visions came to pass.

Plans for Retirement

Gardening—NOT. A bucket list of unfinished science problems and research development, consulting and advisory boards, travel to reconnect with dear friends and colleagues, and getting back up to ca. 2000 miles per year on the bike.

Carol Besselsen Program Coordinator, Business Office Victor J. Hruby Regents Professor Emeritus

Major Accomplishments • Trained 67 PhD, 32 MS, and over 200

BS students • Published over 1,300 papers in peer-reviewed journals • Received over 50 patents • Published papers with 57 other professors and their students worldwide; have over 100 publications with 5 other professors at the University of Arizona • Have received over 50 major awards worldwide • With Profs. John Enemark and George Wilson established state-of-the-art facilities for NMR, mass spectrometry, x-ray crystallography, and state-supported PhD scientists to run them all. This approach has served as the paradigm for all the Facilities now at the University of Arizona. • Obtained over $100M in funding either individually or jointly

Plans for Retirement

• Continue to learn new science and do new science with colleagues • Write a few books: my scientific biography; scientific and ethical aspects of modifying human behavior; Peptide

Science—Now and the Future • If possible, establish The Hruby Peptide Institute at the University of Arizona run by a tenure-track faculty member. • Enjoy my family, friends, students, and colleagues, especially my grandchildren

S. Scott Saavedra Professor Emeritus

Career in Brief • Professor, Department of Chemistry (CBC), 2003–2021 • Associate Professor, CBC, 1997–2003 • Assistant Professor, CBC, 1991–97 • Many service roles for CBC, the College of Science, and the University, including: • Chair, CBC, 2012–14 • Co-Chair, CBC, 2010–12 • Assistant Chair for Education, CBC, 2009-10 • Assistant Head for Academic Affairs, CBC, 2007-09 • Research Director for 29 PhD graduates, 8 MS graduates, 21 post-docs, and > 50 undergraduate students, high school students, and schoolteachers • PI or co-PI for > $30M of sponsored research, educational, and major equipment funding • Developed two new graduate courses and new content for numerous other undergraduate and graduate courses • Galileo Circle Fellow, College of Science, 2017