Michael Cusanovich: a man of many talents and interests

Abstract

How does one perform two or more independent tasks, each crucial and time-constrained, simultaneously? That was usual with Mike. He was often solving scientific, technical, and administrative problems with colleagues on the phone while working on his dual-screened computer, one for the project at hand and the other for his daily schedule. To us, there were seemingly not enough hours in the day to do all the work for which he volunteered. His solution was to sleep less. He would typically come into the lab about 6 AM, working at his computer and leaving for his first meeting at about 7 or 8. As the quintessential problem solver, there would be a succession of meetings with faculty, staff, and students and between, he would be writing, revising, or reviewing manuscripts, Emails, lectures, or proposals. He did not eat lunch, but worked straight through until 5 PM when he would finally head for home. A typical day would include four meetings, sometimes less, but often more. He was involved in everything on campus. He taught a large class in biochemistry, served on the faculty senate, chaired a senate watchdog committee called the Committee of Eleven, assisted in restructuring undergraduate education, and served as faculty and research advisor to many undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students. At various periods, he was Vice President for Research (10 years), interim Provost, Chair of Bioindustry of Southern Arizona, and Director of Arizona Research Laboratories (22 years), and maintained an active research lab throughout. In 1980, he also took a leave of absence to serve as a program director at the National Science Foundation. In 2005, he was awarded the highest academic honor at UA, that of Regents Professor. The routine was the same after his ‘‘official’’ retirement in 2008. Mike was born in Los Angeles California, March 2, 1942. Mike’s father was a California State Senator from a largely Republican district and his mother a public school teacher. On his mothers side, he was descended from the Donner Party of pioneers, perhaps that is where he got his tenacity. He attended public schools, graduating at age 17, and then accepted admission to the University of The Pacific on a tennis scholarship. He was an outstanding athlete. Without knowing, I once challenged him to a game, but was thoroughly trounced. I tried again with racquetball where I was more proficient, but with the same result. I learned that Mike would not accept defeat. While an undergraduate, he had a number of summer jobs, including preparation of solid rocket fuel. While mixing the fuel, dry Santa Ana winds caused a buildup of static electricity resulting in an explosion giving him severe burns over half his body. T. Meyer (&) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA e-mail: temeyer@u.arizona.edu