Dr. Peter Likins’ leadership has been a tremendous asset for the University of Arizona for the past seven years.
Likins has tackled critical decisions relating to higher education head on, and received praise for his progressive approach to University restructuring in the face of budget difficulties that have plagued institutions of higher learning nationwide. He’s an established supporter of UA athletics and a thoughtful spokesman for the kinship between a noted institution of higher education and its public profile as displayed through top-level intercollegiate athletic competition. That synergy has been important to the athletics department.
Likins represents the Pac-10 on the NCAA Divison I Board of Directors and previously was a charter member of the NCAA President’s Commission.
As a former student-athlete recognized by the national Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla., in its Hall of Outstanding Americans, Likins has a broad understanding of college athletics. UA athletics director Jim Livengood frequently cites Likins’ leadership when speaking to all types of audiences.
“Dr. Likins has an understanding of so many aspects of higher education that it’s impressive just to speak with him. I think you can say we’re extremely confident in his ability to help athletics flourish in all ways,” Livengood said.
Likins, the 18th president of The University of Arizona, was appointed in July 1997 and officially began his tenure Oct. 1, 1997. Prior to coming to the UA, Likins had served as the 11th president of Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pa., since 1982. Before serving at Lehigh, Likins served as provost of Columbia University, where he was a professor and dean of the Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Prior to his six years at Columbia, Likins was a member of the faculty at UCLA, where he advanced through the ranks and was honored several times for distinguished teaching during his 12-year tenure.
Likins began his professional career as a development engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, where he was involved in the very early years of spacecraft development. In 1983, he was selected a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and in the following year, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering.
He is author of numerous articles and an engineering mechanics textbook, and co-author of several advanced texts related to spacecraft and electro mechanical systems. Likins also has served as consultant to most major U.S. aerospace companies, as well as to government agencies here and abroad.
Likins is a member of the board of trustees of the Udall Foundation and serves on the boards of the Greater Tucson Economic Council and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council. He previously served on the executive committee of the Council on Competitiveness and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum, both in Washington, D.C.
He also has chaired the Pennsylvania Board for Communities in Schools and served on a number of other national and international advisory boards, including the White House Advisory Committee on the Health of Universities and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
As Lehigh’s president, he served on the boards of COMSAT Corp. of Washington, D.C., Consolidated Edison Co. of New York City, Dynacs Engineering Co. of Clearwater, Fla., and Parker-Hannifin Inc. of Cleveland, among others.
Likins earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Stanford, a master’s degree in the same subject at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctoral degree in engineering mechanics at Stanford. At Stanford, he was a Baker Scholar and Ford Foundation Fellow, and, at MIT, he was a Tau Beta Pi Fellow. He holds honorary degrees from the Czech Technical University of Prague, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Moravian College and the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
Likins and his wife, Patricia, together have raised a multi-racial family including six adopted children.
Peter Likins’
Educational Credentials
Bachelor’s degree, civil engineering, Stanford 1957
Master’s degree, civil engineering, MIT 1958
Doctoral degree, engineering mechanics, Stanford 1965
Provost, Columbia University
Dean, engineering, Columbia University
Developmental engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Engineering mechanics faculty, UCLA
National Academy of Engineering
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Business-Higher Education Forum
