"We have the best location of any educational institution in America. The University ought to make itself famous with a telescope."

With those words, part of his long and persistent effort to bring a world-class observatory to the University of Arizona campus, pioneering astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass set forth his best argument.

Arriving at the UA in 1906 from the Lowell Observatory outside Flagstaff, Douglass sought almost immediately to take advantage of Tucson's dry climate and clear night skies, using his renowned 1910 Halley's Comet observations as proof of the region's unique potential. As he wrote in a 1908 guest editorial in the Arizona Daily Star, "Nothing advertises a climate better than a big telescope."

The paper's editors agreed: "The fame of its observatory would be greater than any other institution of like character in the United States. The atmospheric conditions are such as to demand recognition and consideration from the scientific men of all nations," according to a Feb. 6, 1910 editorial.

Douglass unsuccessfully lobbied the state Legislature for funds but in 1916 secured a $60,000 donation, at first anonymously from Oracle resident Lavinia Steward, in memory of her late husband Henry B. Steward. Construction on Steward Observatory began that year, and on April 23, 1923, the UA formally dedicated the facility, with its state-of-the art 36-inch reflecting telescope at last making Tucson an astronomer's paradise.

"Not only was this the first big donation (to the UA), it was the start of research at the University in a very real way," says Buell Jannuzi, current director of Steward Observatory and head of the astronomy department.

From those ambitious beginnings – the Steward telescope was nicknamed the "All-American" because it was the first astronomical telescope built using all American-made products – the observatory and astronomy department have branched out in all directions, to radio, X-ray and ultraviolet astronomy, adaptive optics, space-based telescopes and the renowned Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory, which constructs gigantic mirrors for the next generation of astronomy, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

"Douglass wanted more than just a major telescope for the University of Arizona; he wanted Steward Observatory to produce discoveries and to share them with the world. I think he would agree that his successors have continued to develop the quality of research we're producing, using technological innovations not as the end points, but as tools to further scientific discovery," Jannuzi says. "Our aspirations are the same as those of Douglass; we are just pursuing them with more modern tools."

Built on what was then the far east side of Tucson, Steward Observatory has been overtaken by campus expansion yet remains an iconic fixture of the UA, its white brick and dome now housing the 21-inch Raymond E. White Jr. Reflector telescope, used primarily for undergraduate education and public outreach, which has been a part of the observatory's mission since its dedication. The original 36-inch scope relocated to Kitt Peak in 1963 and remains in use by the Spacewatch Project.

Leadership for Steward Observatory has maintained a remarkable continuity, with just seven directors over its 90 years, including Peter A. Strittmatter, who served 37 years as director and led a remarkable period of growth and development.

"I think (Douglass) would agree the soul is still there in the observatory, and we're continuing the mission he set out for us," Jannuzi says, reflecting on what drew him to astronomy in the first place. "It's fun, like philosophers or theologians do, to think about the big questions. Often times we're working on some small part of a research project, but it's all part of a larger effort to understand the universe and how we relate to it."

Chilean Master's student Pablo Gonzalez first picked up a classical guitar when he was 8 years old. The Spanish guitar stayed with him through his early education and finally swept him north to the University of Arizona as a Fulbright scholar, where he joined the roughly 25 undergraduate and graduate students in the UA's Bolton Guitar Studies Program.

"You can find it in almost any home in my country," Gonzalez said of classical guitar music.

Students in the UA program hail from countries around the world, including France, Chile, Philippines, China, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Norway, Turkey and many others, drawn by the reputation of a music program like no other.

Many elements of the Bolton guitar program are found in no other classical guitar program in the world such as four endowed guitar competitions supported by the D'Addario string company and by donors, said professorR. Thomas Patterson, who heads the program.

With boons such as artists in residence David Russell, a world-renowned musician and recording artist, and Grammy Award winners Sérgio and Odair Assad, it may not be surprising that UA classical guitar students regularly win at national and international guitar competitions.

"The Assad Brothers come for a week in the fall, and David Russell comes for a week in the spring, and they teach for a week and give concerts," said Julia Pernet, chairman of the Tucson Guitar Society. "I think that's a very unusual asset to have, to have that class of performing guitarists come and spend a week, and really know the students."

Patterson, who joined the UA faculty in 1980, is credited by many for making the guitar program what it is today. "I wanted to make it a flagship, a model for other programs around the country, around the world," Patterson said.

"If you ask other guitar professors what are their greatest achievements, they say, 'Well, I published this book, or that book,'" said Misael Barraza, a first year Master's student in the program, who recently won theMontreal International Competition. "If you ask Tom, he'll say, 'See this guitar champion, or that champion? This was my student.'"

"One of the great things that Tom is able to do is assist students to get to these international competitions and to try themselves out against the world," Pernet added.

"We've seen people make extraordinary moves within our program," said Patterson. "It's exciting to see a high-end person achieve an international prize, but someone who maybe you're taking a risk with, to see them succeed is absolutely amazing."

Pernet brings world-renowned performing artists to Tucson every year through the Tucson Guitar Society. "Part of the agreement that I sign with them is that they will give master classes for the UA guitar program," she said.

In 2011, Sanford and Phyllis Bolton, lifelong music lovers and supporters of classical guitar, gave $2 million to establish the Sanford and Phyllis Bolton Endowed Chair for Classical Guitar, a position held by professor Patterson. Shortly after, Bolton gave an additional $1.1 million, establishing the Sanford and Phyllis Bolton Endowment for Guitar. 

"This was the largest gift of its kind in the history of fine arts," Patterson said, a gift that has enabled the program to support talented students who otherwise may not be able to pursue their dreams with acoustic guitar. In honor of the support, the program changed its name to the Bolton Guitar Studies Program.

The reputation of the program, its calendar packed with events and activities, and the supportive student community have attracted classical guitar talents from many nations. "I'm here because of the reputation of the guitar program," said Ivar Fojas, who is from the Philippines and also a Fulbright scholar, entering the third year of his doctoral studies.

"Normally, other guitar programs would have one or two recitals each semester," Fojas said. "We have them every single week. I've learned how to listen, to really be critical of myself."

"That's really what makes the difference between players," Barraza added. "Is how well you can listen to yourself."

The guitar program curriculum engages students in the community, with a public performance every Friday at 11 a.m. in the UA Museum of Art, and many other concerts and recitals throughout the year.

Patterson said he also makes effort to engage the community through concerts and working with children, to get them involved with guitar and music at a young age.

"It really pushes you to have higher standards for yourself," said Leandra Hubka, who is finishing her Master's degree. "There are so many opportunities to play for the public," she added. "You get better by playing for people."

Barraza said he aims for a concert career, and that the UA guitar program has "been a huge influence on me. I wouldn't be able to do without it."

"We have an enormously supportive group of people," Patterson said. "I have friends who have traveled all over the world; I ask them if this happens anywhere else, and they say no."

"We have four in-house competitions each year," Hubka said. "It would be really easy to get competitive with each other, but we're not at all." Perhaps competition is out of the question among a group of people unified by the sound of an instrument they can't put down.

"It has that effect sometimes," Barraza mused. "The guitar just grabs onto you, and that's it."