Dr. Griffin-Pierce specialized in medical anthropology and native cultures with projects. She was an adjunct lecturer at the University from 1988 to 2003, assistant professor of anthropology from 2003 to 2008 and gained tenure as an associate professor in 2008. Austin Keith Pierce attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, from 1936 to 1938 and eventually graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in astronomy. During World War II he worked on uranium isotope separation at the E.O. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory calutron in Berkeley as well as in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He returned to Berkeley in 1945 and earned his doctorate in Astronomy in 1948 under Dr. C.D. Shane. Dr. Pierce helped site and design the world's largest solar telescope at Kitt Peak. He was appointed Associate Director in charge of the Solar Division which he held for 16 years. Dr. Pierce greatly contributed to work on the solar spectrum, especially the ultraviolet and infrared frontiers and was also a pioneer in the use of infrared and photoelectric detectors to make accurate measurements. At the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the McMath Solar Telescope in 1992 it was renamed the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in honor of his contribution to the development of the facility.