Eugene H. Levy
Rice University
Provost, Howard R. Hughes Chair
Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Professor Eugene Levy was appointed to the Howard R. Hughes Chair as Provost and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University in 2000. As Provost, Professor Levy is the chief academic officer of the university and has the responsibility for educational and research programs. The university’s deans report to the Provost, as do a number of other academic and support units, including undergraduate and graduate studies.

Education and Previous Experience
Professor Levy received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago (1971) and an A.B. in Physics from Rutgers University (1966). After working as a Fellow for the Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland and at the Bartol Research Institute, he joined the University of Arizona in 1975.

Professor Levy held appointments at the Professor of Planetary Sciences and Professor of Physics at the University of Arizona. From 1983 to 1994, he served as the Head of the Planetary Sciences Department and Director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Subsequently, from 1993 to 2000, he served as Dean of the College of Science. While at the University of Arizona, Professor Levy also was a member of the faculties of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Astrophysics programs. In 1989, he established the NASA/Arizona Space Grant College Consortium and served as its director for eleven years.

Awards
In 1983, Professor Levy was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and from 1985 to 1991, he held an appointment as Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. In Germany in 1989, Professor Levy was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Senior Scientist Award. At the University of Arizona, Professor Levy received a Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Award in 1996, and in 1999, he was the inaugural recipient of the Hispanic Alumni Association Outstanding Administrator Award. Professor Levy was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi at Rutgers. He held a NASA Pre-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Related Professional Activities
Professor Levy has served on numerous scientific program, policy and consulting advisory positions at the national and international levels. Currently, Professor Levy is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) (2004- ).

He is also a member, and recently elected chair-designate, of the Board of Trustees of Associated Universities, Inc (AUI) (2001- ), the non-government organization that operates U.S. national and internationally collaborative radio telescope observatories.

During the past ten years, Professor Levy served as member and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) (1991-95); he was Chair of the Planet Formation Group of NASA Origins of the Solar Systems Review Panel (1993-95); he was a member of the International Science (Soros) Foundation Astronomy Review Panel (1993-94); he was Chair of the NASA Origins of the Solar Systems Program Management Working Group (1994-97). He served on the American Astronomical Society Committee on Public Education Policy (1994-96), chaired the NASA Discovery-4 Mission Selection Panel (1995), and served as a Panelist with the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Issues Forum on Science and Technology (1996); he was a member of the NASA/Keck Observatory Telescope Allocation Committee (1990-2000), the NASA Discover Missions Review Panel (1998), the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee, “Benefits Panel” under the National Academy of Sciences (1999). He also served as a member and Chair of the NASA Planetary Protection Advisory Committee (2002-2006) and was a recent member of the NASA Nuclear Systems Initiative Science Definition Team (2002-03).

Research Interests
Professor Levy’s research interests are focused in the areas of theoretical cosmic physics and are aimed at elucidating mechanisms and processes that underlie physical phenomena in planetary and astrophysical systems. His work has encompassed areas of planetary geophysics, magnetohydrodynamics, solar and space physics, and electrodynamics. He has investigated the generation and behavior of magnetic fields in natural bodies, including the Earth, Sun, and the planets; origin of the geomagnetic reversal; theory of cosmic rays; theory of physical processes associated with the formation of the solar system, stars, and other planetary systems. He has also worked on the development of observational techniques for the discovery and study of other planetary systems.