Mirror Images: George and Cynthia
A staff member at the Giant Magellan Telescope’s Mirror Lab places the last piece of glass into the mold for one of the massive mirrors, similar to those nicknamed “George” and “Cynthia.” (Photo: Giant Magellan Telescope Mirror Lab)
George Mitchell is known for perfecting the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and for his pioneering work in sustainable development. Less well-known is his support for Big Science late in his life.
As a boy growing up in Galveston, Mitchell would look at the skies and study the stars. He briefly thought about pursing a career in astronomy or cosmology, but having endured a childhood of financial hardship, he decided to go into energy because he thought he could make more money. After he sold his energy company in 2002, he returned to his love of the stars.
As part of his support for the physics program at his alma mater, Texas A&M, Mitchell also donated millions of dollars to the Giant Magellan Telescope, which is being built in the Chilean desert. One of my favorite parts of writing my book, George P. Mitchell: Fracking, Sustainability, and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet was exploring this time in Mitchell’s life, when he could be a catalyst for neglected research programs he believed were important.
Here’s what I wrote about the GMT:
Ultimately, George gave $25 million to the GMT project in addition to the money he gave A&M for the astronomy program. The first mirror was cast at the University of Arizona in 2005, and George flew out for the unveiling. Because of its size and precision, polishing and finishing the giant mirrors took another six and a half years. Freedman nicknamed the first two George and Cynthia.
George wound up giving far more than he’d planned to the physics and astronomy programs at A&M. Again, as with The Woodlands, his passion dictated his generosity. He was frustrated by the lack of public interest in the pure sciences. Businessmen gave money to business schools, and oilmen gave to petroleum engineering programs, but to George, these were just examples of the myopic thinking of too many corporate leaders. Pure science research focused on the biggest questions of all—where we came from, how we got here, how the universe was born. George was constantly pushing his publicist Dancie Ware to generate more acclaim for the GMT. “We need more science writers writing about science,” he would say.
George’s combined gifts made the GMT possible and vaulted A&M to a leading position in astronomy in less than a decade. In 2016, nine years after its founding, the program featured eight professors and one lecturer and was developing a doctorate degree. “I could not have the astronomy program that I have today—nothing even close to it—if George Mitchell hadn’t helped us when he did,” said Nick Suntzeff, the astronomer who leads the university’s efforts and holds a chair endowed, in part, by George.
But it’s the telescope that Suntzeff says could become the greatest testament to George’s philanthropy. The GMT is on track to beat the other giant telescopes to first light and begin scanning deep space for signs of life. “It would be a testament to George Mitchell
and the other people who provided funding if we could make a discovery of that magnitude with the telescope that they provided funds for,” Suntzeff said. “It would be an appropriate payback to their generosity.”
George P. Mitchell: Fracking, Sustainability, and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet is available for pre-order online and will be in bookstores Oct. 11.
