Geotimes February 1997 - About People

ABOUT PEOPLE

FEBRUARY 1997

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) announced its 1996 award recipients, who were recognized at SEG's annual meeting in November. VALERY Z. GARIPOV, Russian Ministry of Fuel and Energy, BRIAN R. SPIES, Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Mineral Exploration Technologies, and DON W. STEEPLES, University of Kansas, received the Life Membership Award for exceptional service to the society. LUIS CANALES received the Reginald Fessenden Award for his 1984 invention of a technique for attenuation of spatially random noise on seismic data. KENNETH L. LARNER, Colorado School of Mines, received the Maurice Ewing Gold Medal for his contributions to the advancement of exploration geophysics. MAARTEN V. DE HOOP, Colorado School of Mines and Scheumberger Cambridge Research, DAVID E. LUMLEY, Chevron, and JAMES W. RECTOR III, University of California, Berkeley, received the J. Clarence Karcher Award, which recognizes contributions from young exploration geophysicists. DAN HAMPSON and BRIAN RUSSELL, Hampson-Russell Software Service Ltd., received the Enterprise Award. ILYA D. TSVANKIN, Colorado School of Mines, received the Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal for fundamental contributions to the science and practice of exploration seismology. Other award winners included: WAGNER FREIRE, Petrobras, and ROBERT SHERIFF, University of Houston, Special Commendation Award; and AMOS NUR, Stanford University, and ROY E. WHITE, University of London, Honorary Membership Award.

SEG also announced that the following officers will serve on its 1996-97 executive committee: FRED HILTERMAN, Geophysical Development Corp., president; S. RUTT BRIDGES, Landmark Graphics Corporation, president-elect; KAY DAUTENHAHN WYATT, Phillips Petroleum Co., first vice president; EULOGIO DEL PINO, Caracas, Venezuela, second vice president; INGEBRET GAUSLAND, Stavanger, Norway, vice president; BRIAN R. SPIES, Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Mineral Exploration Technologies, secretary-treasurer; and SVEN TREITAL, editor.

The Soil Science Society of America recognized its 1996 award recipients at the society's annual meeting in November. HUI-HAI LIU, a postdoctoral researcher at Clemson University, received the Emil Truog Award. PAUL M. BERTSCH, professor at the University of Georgia s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, received the Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award. JOHN J. MORTVEDT, Tennessee Valley Authority (retired), JAMES F. POWER, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (retired), and JAMES P. QUIRK, Waite Agricultural Research Institute (retired), received the Soil Science Distinguished Service Award. The Soil Science Achievement Awards recognized the following individuals in their field of expertise: MARTINUS TH. VAN GENUCHTEN, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, research; TERENCE H. COOPER, University of Minnesota, education; LLOYD R. HOSSNER, Texas A&M University, applied research; DARRELL W. NELSON, University of Nebraska, professional service; and MARION F. BAUMGARDNER, Purdue University, international soil science.

Members of the society's 1996 executive committee are: D.K. CASSEL, North Carolina State University, president; H.H. CHENG, University of Minnesota, past president; LEE E. SOMMERS, Colorado State University, president- elect; and ROBERT F. BARNES, executive vice president.

The National Association for Black Geologists and Geophysicists inducted its 1997-98 executive committee in October. New members are: WES WARD, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz., president; KATRINA BURKE, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va., vice president; ALTON BATES, New Orleans, secretary; MYRNA MOLINE, New Orleans, treasurer; and PATRICIA M. HALL, Amoco, past president.

The National Speleological Society announced its 1996 award winners at the society's annual meeting in August. JOHN P. SCHELTENS of Hot Springs, S.D., was awarded the William J. Stephenson Outstanding Service Award for his longtime service to the society. TOMMY SHIFFLETT received the Lew Bicking Award for his exploration and mapping accomplishments. Italian research scientist ARRIGO A. CIGNA received an Honorary Membership for his contributions to cave science. Certificates of Merit were awarded to THE LINT PICKERS PROJECT for conservation work at Carlsbad Cavern National Park, and KEITH DUNLAP and the INDIANA KARST CONSERVANCY for protecting a karst area during a road construction project. GEORGE HUPPERT, conservation editor of the NSS Bulletin, received the Conservation Award. KAREN KASTNING was awarded the Spelean Arts and Letters Award. ARTHUR PALMER, professor at the State University of New York at Oneonta, received the Science Award. Other recipients included: ANNETTE SUMMERS ENGEL, James G. Mitchell Award; JEFFREY FORBES, Best Paper on a Show Cave Award; PAUL DAMON, Peter M. Hauer Spelean History Award; KERI WILLIAMSON, Washington University at St. Louis, Ralph W. Stone Graduate Research Award; and OREGON GROTTO, Group Conservation Award.

Last fall, President Clinton named 16 recipients of the first Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. This award recognizes outstanding individuals and institutions that have provided guidance and mentoring to groups of students typically underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering. The National Science Foundation administers the award, which includes a $10,000 grant and a Presidential commemorative certificate.

Ten individual awards were presented to: MARTHA G. ABSHER, Duke University; HOWARD G. ADAMS, National Institute on Mentoring, Georgia Institute of Technology; DIOLA BAGAYOKO, Southern University; JOAQUIN BUSTOZ, Arizona State University; CARLOS G. GUTIERREZ, California State University at Los Angeles; JANET S. HERMAN, University of Virginia; SUSAN J.S. LASSER, Clemson University; MELVIN B. ROBIN, Science High School, Newark, N.J.; WALTER S. SMITH, University of Akron; and RICHARD A. TAPIA, Rice University.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced two staff appointments for its fossil energy programs. SUN CHUN, director of the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center since 1979, has been named senior executive advisor for DOE's Office of Fossil Energy in Washington, D.C. RITA A. BAJURA will head the new Federal Energy Technology Center, an organization that merges the management teams of energy technology centers in Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa. The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences recognized three Colorado School of Mines professors for their contributions to Russian-American geophysical cooperation. J.E. WHITE, professor emeritus, received the Piotr L. Kapista Gold Medal, the academy's highest honor. White was one of the first American geophysicists to visit Russia and established strong ties with the Russian scientific community. White is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and an honorary member and former president of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG). In 1986, he received the Maurice Ewing Gold Medal from SEG.

KENNETH LARNER and THOMAS LAFEHR were elected full members of the academy. Larner is the Charles Henry Green Professor of Exploration Geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines and co-leader of the Center for Wave Phenomena, a research consortium sponsored by U.S. and international petroleum companies. He received the 1996 Maurice Ewing Medal from SEG.

LaFehr, an adjunct professor in geophysics, is well known for his contributions to the fields of gravity and magnetics. He organized a team of Russian scientists to perform borehole gravity tests in the United States. LaFehr has won many SEG awards and served as that society's president from 1984-85.

Two University of Texas at Austin students received the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America's Best Student Paper in Mineral Economics Awards. ALICE HU won first place for her paper "The Diamond Cartel: An Economic and Business Fundamentals Analysis." EDWARD LEE CALAWAY, a Ph.D. student in energy and mineral resources, won second place for his paper dealing with the economics of offshore mining. Rajive Ganguli, a graduate student in mining engineering at the University of Kentucky, was also recognized. GABRIAL DENGO is the 1996 recipient of the Hollis D. Hedberg Award from the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University. Dengo was recognized for his contributions to oil exploration, electrification projects, and work with mineral deposits and environmental geology in Central and South America. After earning a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1947, Dengo worked in Costa Rica as a field geologist for the Union Oil Co. of California. He later joined the Central American Research Institute for Industry in Guatemala. In 1981, he joined the Guatemalan Electrification Institute as chief geologist for an electrification project. Dengo is an honorary fellow of the Geological Society of America and a recipient of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists' Michael T. Halbouty Human Needs Award.

OBITUARIES

THOMAS F. RAFTER JR. was one of the founders of the Association of Earth Science Editors (AESE) and a longtime staff member at the American Geological Institute (AGI).

In establishing the AESE, Rafter recognized the importance of promoting effective communication and publications programs in the earth sciences. He served as the association's third president and was a lifetime honor member.

Rafter began working at AGI in 1959. During the '60s and '70s, he developed the institute's translations program into a full-blown publications series which included such titles as International Geology Review, Paleontological Journal, Doklady, and Geochimica. He was particularly instrumental in making English translations of Russian-language research papers available to the global earth-science community.

After leaving AGI in 1981, Rafter joined the staff of the American Geophysical Union, where he contributed to that organization's efforts for more than a decade.

An accomplished musician, Rafter's passion for minerals and geology began when he gave up a promising career as a double bassist to join his family's jewelry business. This new interest eventually developed into a lifelong career in earth-science publishing. Rafter died in April 1996.