David Auston (EngPhys 6T2, ElecE MASc 6T3) may chalk up his impressive career as a scientist and university administrator to luck. But one of his favourite quotes, from 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, perhaps better explains his tremendous accomplishments: “The secret of success is to be ready when your time has come.”
Auston’s readiness to seize opportunities was evident from the start. As an engineering student at McGill University, his neighbour, chief engineer at Canadair (now part of Bombardier Aerospace), offered him a summer job. There, he was introduced to the early computers of the mid-1950s.
“Canadair gave me a lot of freedom,” Auston said. “Those hands-on experiences at a young age were very inspiring.”
When his family moved from Montreal to Toronto in 1960 after he completed two years of engineering studies at McGill, the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering accepted him on probationary terms. He was required to check in with a professor every two weeks to ensure he was keeping up with the rigours of the Engineering Physics program (now Engineering Science). It didn’t take long to prove himself, despite his significant involvement in fraternity life, which he says was a great social vehicle but also a major distraction.
Two key experiences stand out when Auston thinks back on his U of T days: his first taste of the thrill of discovery as a summer researcher in Professor Allen Yen’s radio astronomy lab, and a poignant moment when future Nobel laureate Professor Norman Ramsey of Harvard University came to Toronto to present his pioneering work in quantum electronics. Professor Ramsey’s luggage, including his presentation slides, was lost on his way to Toronto.
“He was totally unfazed,” Auston said. “He just walked up to the blackboard and gave one of the most inspiring lectures I had ever heard. I found it rather spectacular and considered him a role model. It was a lesson for me in how to give a really good lecture.”
From east to west and back again
Upon completing his master’s degree in electrical engineering at U of T, a recruiter from the General Motors Defense Research Laboratory came to campus and asked if anyone wanted to move to California. Auston raised his hand and thus began his professional research career.
He spent three years at GM before earning his PhD in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 1969. He was then offered a position at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey with an open research mandate, allowing him to pursue work in lasers, then a new field. During this time, he came up with a new approach for generating and detecting electrical pulses using photoconducting devices — what electrical engineers refer to today as an “Auston switch.”
“Bell was a remarkably wonderful place to do research,” he said. “Not just because of the collaborative structure and availability of funding, but the people there were a fabulous collection from around the world. There was nothing too ambitious to try. That’s what kept me at Bell Labs for 18 years.”
The prime of Auston’s career as a scientist coincided with a famously disruptive time in the research world. Bell Laboratories, the undisputed research powerhouse of the mid-20th century, underwent a major downsizing and restructuring, casting many of the world’s top scientists into positions at universities and companies across the globe. Notable U of T Engineering alumni among them included Alfred Aho (EngPhys 6T3, Honorary Doctorate 1T5) and Brian Kernighan (EngPhys 6T4), computer scientists renown for developing early programming languages. With such a wide array of contacts at prestigious organizations, the “Bell Labs diaspora” proved a useful resource for Auston throughout the rest of his career.
Impact on academia
Auston had five years of management experience as a department head in the Physics Division at Bell Labs by the time he left for academia in 1986, becoming a professor and, within four years, Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in New York City.
There, he continued his research program and encouraged the kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration for which Bell Labs was known. He liked the administrative side of academia, finding satisfaction in projects such as revamping the university’s recruitment tactics to convey Columbia’s New York City location as an asset rather than a drawback. In just a few years, this effort helped to triple the number of applications and significantly boosted the quality of the students.
“As an administrator, I preferred to take risks that were not always popular, but which I felt were the right things to do,” he said.
For example, the president of Columbia asked Auston to chair a committee to find a solution for balancing a major budget deficit. They came up with an unusual two-part solution: an across-the-board funding cut in addition to a further cut (more than actually necessary to balance the budget) to establish a fund from which departments could apply for support for new initiatives. It worked, resulting in some innovative new projects and ultimately helping the university recover.
In 1994, he was recruited by Rice University in Houston, to serve as provost, where he led fundraising initiatives for five years before becoming president of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1999. There, he had terrific fundraising success, doubling the amount of money raised over any previous year, but left after two years due to a disagreement with the Board over the management of the Medical School and its affiliated Hospital.
Inventor and entrepreneur Fred Kavli approached Auston in 2002 to help lead the newly established Kavli Foundation, which aspired to advance public understanding of and support for scientists and their work. Kavli and Auston agreed to take a very different approach to operating a foundation. Instead of employing a large staff and requesting funding proposals, they identified opportunities for investments through a process of campus visits and built the foundation’s profile by establishing 15 research institutions at top universities across the globe. They sought out exceptional research and presented recipients with very large gifts in an effort to make an immediate, significant impact.
In this role, Auston drew on everything he had learned so far — his engineering training; his time as a scientist at Bell Labs; and his roles as a university dean, provost and president — to communicate constructively with everyone from students to researchers to university leaders.
“I regarded myself as the startup person,” Auston said.
Retirement and beyond
Once the foundation was established and running smoothly, he retired at age 68. But not for long. Within six months, the University of California, Santa Barbara approached him to become executive director of its Institute for Energy Efficiency.
Besides overseeing the Institute’s research projects and interfacing with supporters of this work at the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies, he is also working with the University of California president and all 10 campuses and three national laboratories on a goal to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. He is co-chair of a group researching the technological and behavioural changes necessary to meet this goal, hopefully resulting in a model for other organizations.
At age 75, Auston is still heavily involved in cutting-edge research and works with scientists, government agencies and universities on exciting and timely advances. His prolific career as a scientist and leader is characterized by a willingness to take on new and challenging projects and the ability to approach problems from new perspectives.
Sound advice
Auston offers his fellow U of T Engineering alumni the following insights:
On professional disappointments:
He learned to take perceived setbacks such as the brevity of his time as president of Case Western Reserve University — as lessons in reconsidering his strengths and weaknesses and thinking of new directions.
‘It didn’t stop me from picking up and trying something new,” Auston said.
In his case, he made a fresh start in the non-profit sector by helping to launch and shape the Kavli Foundation.
“In today’s world, scientists and researchers need to take that same standpoint as they face the many entrepreneurship opportunities that are becoming more and more available to them,” he said. “Don’t be afraid of failure. Think of it as a learning experience. Allow yourself to be honest and accept your shortcomings.”
On moving towards a career in academic administration:
Auston took his first step toward university leadership when he became a dean at age 51, which he felt was just right for him.
“If you’re on a strong research and teaching track, stick with it and enjoy the pleasure of it, don’t cut that short,” he said. “It’s also important to your career as an administrator to understand the world of science and research or you’ll just become a bureaucrat. There is a right time to make that transition. I think it’s beyond the mid-career point, after having accomplished something in your research. You’ll know when it’s time.”
— Emily Meyertholen