Visionary Investment in Pioneering Faculty

Howard & Astrid Preston, Associate Professor, Howard and Astrid Preston Chair in Astrophysics, Smadar Naoz

Actively engaged alumni and steadfast supporters of the Department of Physics and Astronomy for decades, Howard and Astrid Preston have generously provided guidance and supported our physics and astronomy community in a variety of ways, including faculty support. We are very appreciative that their most recent gift was to augment the Howard and Astrid Preston Term Chair in Astrophysics, converting it into the Howard and Astrid Preston Chair in Astrophysics. Appointed in 2018, Professor Smadar Naoz serves as the inaugural chair holder of this endowed chair, the funding of which is under her discretion for research, teaching and outreach activities. Endowed chairs help recruit and retain the highest caliber of faculty and allow faculty to undertake innovative research not supported by federal grants – empowering them to be creative, enterprising and pioneering.