Professor Peter Smith has announced his retirement from The University of Arizona and LPL. Peter began his career at LPL in 1978 as a research assistant/postdoc; he was named Professor in 2009. Peter's career is rich with highlights and milestones, including:

• role as PI for the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) Science Team
• design and construction of the IMP lander camera (1993-1997)
• service on several science teams and instrument design projects, including the MRO HiRISE camera.
• role as PI for the PHOENIX mission (2003-2008).

We will miss Peter as a colleague at LPL, but wish him all the best has he pursues new adventures and opportunities!

April 9, 2013

To my friends and co-workers at LPL:

I am retiring from the department and the University on July 1, 2013.

I think back to my start at the Lunar and Planetary Lab when I worked part time for wages as a new graduate from Optical Sciences helping Marty Tomasko calibrate his Pioneer Venus instrument.  The thrill of planetary exploration was soon in my blood and I have had the good fortune that my lifecycle directly overlaps the beginning of the Space Age from Sputnik to OSIRIS-REx.  After 35 years, having led a mission to Mars operated from the UA and having worked with the giants of planetary science and the country’s major institutions of engineering, I am ready to start the next phase of life.

As one chapter ends another begins and I have a long bucket list of adventures that should fulfill the next phase of my life.It has been so rewarding working at the UA and in Planetary Science, and I shall miss daily contact with the many friends and colleagues who have made the years fly by in intellectual discourse and good fellowship.

Peter Smith