By University Of Arizona Communications

Tucson, AZ -- Michael A. Cusanovich, a Regents' Professor and a vocal advocate for advancing biotechnology research and economic development for more than four decades at the University of Arizona, died suddenly on Monday, April 12 of an apparent heart attack. He was 68.

Cusanovich started as an assistant professor of chemistry at the UA in 1969 after two years of postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Diego, where he received his doctorate, and at Cornell University.

While on the faculty, Cusanovich gained international recognition for his research, primarily on biological electron transfer and signaling. His work influenced a range of areas, from microbial physiology and bacterial evolution to heart disease and vision. He also collaborated across disciplines with groups in the U.S. and in Europe and Asia. Most recently, he was key in developing the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, a consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

He joined the UA biochemistry department in 1978, and spent the 1981-82 year as the program director for the biochemistry program at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.

In 1987, Cusanovich was picked to be the interim vice dean for the newly reorganized Graduate College, and put in charge of academics, new degree programs and interdisciplinary studies. A year later he was named as the new vice president for research and dean of the Graduate College. He held the vice presidential position for the next 10 years.

During that decade, Cusanovich was at or near the center of the UA's explosive growth in the sciences, as well as for a nettling series of issues that affected the University. The UA vaulted into the nation's top-10 public research institutions when annual research grant funding hit $280 million. Degrees awarded to minority students at the UA also made significant advances as well.

The UA also launched the multi-million dollar Mount Graham International Observatory in 1988, which was praised by scientists worldwide and which Cusanovich championed in the face of sharp criticism for several years.

In 1992, then-UA President Manuel Pacheco asked Cusanovich to step in and serve as interim provost, where he spent the first two months grappling with nearly $17 million in proposed budget cuts during a sharp economic downturn.

He stepped down as vice president in 1998 to return to the faculty. All the while he was an administrator, Cusanovich had still found time to work in his laboratory, teach dozens of classes to students and write more than 300 publications. He later became the director of the Arizona Research Laboratories and in 2005 was named as a Regents' Professor, the school's highest honor for researchers.

Cusanovich also lobbied tirelessly for the University and Arizona to attract and nurture high-tech industries, not only in biotechnology, but in optical sciences. He helped found and headed the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona, and served on the board of directors of the Arizona Bioindustry Association.

His wife, Marilyn Halonen, also has spent many years as a member of the UA community. She is a professor of pharmacology and a member of the Arizona Respiratory Center.

"Mike Cusanovich spent his entire academic life at this University," said Leslie Tolbert, who is the current vice president for research, graduate studies and economic development. "Over the years, Mike generously shared his time and wisdom as a teacher of undergraduates and graduate students, as a prolific investigator, as vice president for research and as provost, and as a mentor for many faculty members, including me.

"Although he officially retired in 2007, he continued to serve the UA with gusto, directing the Arizona Research Labs as well as his own biochemistry laboratory, teaching hundreds of students each year, and chairing the Committee of Eleven and its Research Policy Committee until the end. It will take a long time to absorb his loss."

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