I would have to say probably
when I first arrived here to start my time with ASU,
my first supervisor came to the entrance and welcomed me
and asked me to let her know if I needed anything
and that she would likely be asking me every day for the first year
if I was still okay with the decision to come here.
And so, when I think about that, I always remember that
she cared enough to ask, and she made it playful and fun.
When I started, I realized I was working with
very smart and caring people
who were interested in looking at serving
new, expanded populations, and that included the non-traditional,
which we called at the time, student who was not 20 years old,
who was older than that, who was working and who had a flexible schedule.
So, my beginning year memories
are of working towards that goal and working with faculty and staff
who really cared about expanding our population base.
I was the first astronomer at ASU.
I was introduced by my department chair,
who was Dick Stoner at the time, and Dean Peek.
George Peek was the dean of the college.
All of the new faculty, I think there were five of us,
got to stand up and be introduced.
And of course,
George Peek's comment was “well, you know, this is the first time
we've had an astronomer on the faculty here
although we've been teaching astronomy for some years, and guess what?
His name is Starrfield.”
And of course, that got a lot of laughs,
and I'm used to that.
It's the best name in the business.
I think it's important to find colleagues
who support you and groups who help problem solve.
So, over the years, I have met with
and gotten to know and become friends with and worked with and collaborated
with many,
many people who impacted my life, who helped me have different viewpoints,
who helped me understand the importance of lifelong learning
and our responsibility as university citizens
to contribute to really sound problem-solving.
I would go back to my team, which is the Partners group.
We’re a group that, I would have to say, functions
almost just like a family.
We have our moments where we argue,
we disagree, but at the end of the day, we always come back together.
We discuss where the points of dissension or disagreement are,
and we come to a conclusion that works
for everyone involved.
Every time you turn around, there’s
a new innovative thing going on.
As I’m sure you may or may not be aware, we have facilities associated
with our school in Hawaii, and of course, we have campuses in D.C.
and Los Angeles.
We have a huge effort in Africa, which is really working
both ways and very supportive.
So, yes, I would hope this all continues.
I would love to
see them continuing to innovate, really.
It’s one of the things that make me proudest of working here
is the fact that we continuously end up
in the top of that category in terms of universities and innovation.
The research we do here is groundbreaking.
I think we have some of the best talent
in the United States, probably the world.
I love my job.
I love bragging to my friends and family about the things that we do here.
I think come with an open mind,
be curious.
Understand that it’s a fast-paced environment.
There's so much advice.
There's work hard, number one.
Seek out other people who can be colleagues who support you
and who are cheerleaders for your cause.
Innovate.
Get a mentor.
Find someone who's on the faculty, who's been around who knows a lot of the ropes.
You know, it's going to take a minute
to get your feet grounded, but you won't ever be bored here.
Stay optimistic and have fun.