Tucsons movers and shakers in science and medicine include an archaeologist, a planetary scientist, a heart transplant surgeon and a pioneer in integrative medicine.
Emil Haury was a pre-eminent archaeologist and anthropologist who accumulated the evidence that provides much of our understanding of Southwestern prehistory.
Michael J. Drake, a world-class scientist in extraterrestrial geology, was director of the University of Arizonas lunar and planetary projects, and was instrumental in several successful NASA space missions.
While at the UA, Jack Copeland performed Arizonas first heart transplant and later pioneered the use of artificial hearts to temporarily bridge a patient to heart transplant.
Andrew Weil is a medical pioneer in treating both the mind and body for a healthy life.
Emil Haury (1904-1992) was born in Newton, Kan., educated in Kansas through two years of college, then transferred to the UA, where he earned a bachelors degree in archaeology in 1927 and a masters in 1928. He earned a doctorate from Harvard University in 1934.
Haury began his archaeological fieldwork in the late 1920s, exploring prehistoric ruins in Northern Arizona and Mexico, and in 1930 became the assistant director of the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation in Globe, working for Harold Gladwin.
With Gladwins support, Haury was instrumental in identifying and defining the Hohokam culture in Arizona and the Mogollon culture in New Mexico, which flourished around A.D. 1000 and earlier.
Haury also became a key figure in developing tree-ring dating that enabled construction of event timelines for prehistoric sites. In the 1940s and 1950s, Haury excavated several ancient (circa 9,000 B.C.) Paleo-Indian mammoth-kill sites in Arizona and New Mexico.
In 1937, Haury returned to the UA to head the Department of Anthropology, and a year later became the director of the Arizona State Museum, holding both posts until 1964.
Go here to see the original:
Ring's Reflections: Pioneers in medicine, science have brought international acclaim to Tucson