A Human Expedition to Mars

With Dr. Maria Zuber

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Professor Maria Zuber is the invited speaker for this year’s Martin Lecture, hosted by the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the Faculty of Arts & Science at U of T.

Maria Zuber is the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Vice President for Research at MIT. Her research bridges planetary geophysics and the technology of space-based laser and radio systems. Since 1990, she has held leadership roles associated with scientific experiments or instrumentation on ten NASA missions, most notably serving as Principal Investigator of the GRAIL mission. She currently leads the gravity investigation on the NASA Psyche mission and serves as chair of the Standing Review Board of the Mars Sample Return mission.

Vice President Zuber is the first woman to lead a science department at MIT and the first to lead a NASA planetary mission. In 2004, President Bush appointed her to the Presidential Commission on the Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy. In 2002, Discover magazine named her one of the 50 most important women in science and, in 2008, she was named to the USNews/Harvard Kennedy School List of America’s Best Leaders. In 2013, President Obama appointed her to the National Science Board, and in 2016 she was elected Board Chair. She currently serves as Co-chair of President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.