UA's notable scientists
Check out these notable achievers who went to the UA.
Joseph Acaba
Updated
Astronaut mission specialist Joseph Acaba, a crew member on Space shuttle Discovery, leaves the Operations and Checkout building at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., March 15, 2009. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Graduated from UA in: 1992
Why he's famous: Science — NASA astronaut
Notable accomplishment: Acaba spent a total of 137 days in space during his career.
J. David Lowell
Updated
J. David Lowell.
Graduated from UA in: 1949
Why he's famous: Engineering — mining
Notable accomplishment: Lowell earned his bachelor's degree in mining engineering from the UA in 1949 and a master's degree in geology from Stanford University in 1957. He returned to the UA and completed a professional engineer degree in 1959. He has received honorary doctorates from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru in 1998 and the UA in 2000.
Lowell has discovered more copper ore than any other person in history. He is a 2002 inductee of the American Mining Hall of Fame.
In 2008, Lowell and his wife, Edith, donated $2.5 million toward the ongoing construction of the UA's basketball and volleyball practice facility. Another $2.06 million went to establishing the David Lowell Professional Program in Mineral Resources in the department of mining and geological engineering.
Lisan Peng
Updated
Lisan Peng.
Graduated from UA in: 1992
Why she's famous: Medicine — cancer work
Notable accomplishment: Dr. Lisan Peng won a Rhodes Scholarship in 1993. She is a doctor at the UA Cancer center. Peng graduated from University High School.
Don Pettit
Updated
In this image from television on Feb. 11, 2003, international space station commander Ken Bowersox, center, hands the microphone to Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin, left, during a news conference from the space station. At right is science officer Don Pettit. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
Graduated from UA in: 1983
Why he's famous: Science — NASA astronaut
Notable accomplishment: Pettit spent a total of 370 days in space throughout his NASA career.
Brian Schmidt
Updated
In this May 8, 2008 photo provided by the Australian Academy of Science, Prof. Brian Schmidt poses for a photograph. Schmidt is one of three U.S.-born scientists to win the Nobel Prize in Physics on Oct. 4, 2011, for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. (AP Photo/AAS Irene Dowdy)
Graduated from UA in: 1989
Why he's famous: Science — astrophysics
Notable accomplishment: Schmidt's research team won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their help in discovering the accelerating universe.
Richard "Dick" Scobee
Updated
UA alumnus "Dick" Scobee talks about his adventures aboard the space shuttle. Arizona Daily Star file photo taken Nov. 2, 1984.
Graduated from UA in: 1965
Why he's famous: Science — NASA astronaut
Notable accomplishment: Scobee spent close to seven days total in space during his NASA career.
Peter H. Smith
Updated
Dr. Peter H. Smith is the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair of Integrated Science in the Department of Planetary Science. He has participated in numerous space missions throughout his long career and is the Principal Investigator of the Phoenix Mars mission. Handout photo.
Graduated from UA in: 1977
Why he's famous: Science — astronomy
Notable accomplishment: Smith is the principal investigator for the $420 million Phoenix explorer. Phoenix landed on Mars in 2008.
Clifford Stoll
UpdatedGraduated from UA in: 1980 — Ph.D.
Why he's famous: Science — astronomy; Arts — literature
Notable accomplishment: Stoll is known for his 1989 book "The Cuckoo's Egg," which is a personal account of the hunt for a hacker who broke into a computer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Gordon Willey
UpdatedGraduated from UA in: 1935
Why he's famous: Archaeology
Notable accomplishment: Willey is known as "the dean of New World archaeology."
Photos: Tucson's notable achievers
UpdatedNow that you've browsed the UA's notable achievers, click the photo below to check out Tucson's notable achievers.
As featured on
These Cats hit the books just as hard as they hit the field.
Actors and celebrities arrive at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hil…
The most liked, commented and shared posts on the Arizona Daily Star's Facebook Page in Janu…
