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Arthur Strahler ('38) has completed a new textbook entitled Plate Tectonics, published by GeooBooks Publishing. The dedication in the front of the book tells all of us how lasting a Wooster education can be. It reads: "Dedicated to Karl Ver Steeg and Charles B. Moke." Art is a retired Professor of Geology at Columbia University. He and his wife, Margaret, reside in Santa Barbara, California. Carl Gonzalez ('41) has retired as manager of Dunham-Bush International and is enjoying life to its fullest. He lives in Coral Gables, Florida, where he enjoys sailing his 27-foot Catalina to neighboring islands. He also enjoys spending time with his grandson, two granddaughters, and one great grandson. Helen Willer Disser ('47) is a retired geography teacher residing in Saratoga, California. She sent us her "Disser"tation on 1998, which told of her and husband Bill's travels and activities of the past year. They traveled around the United States as well as Canada visiting friends and family members, including a train trip across the Canadian Rockies. The Dissers have one adult daughter, Barbara. Henry A. Hill ('49) is President of his own consulting firm, the Winship Corporation, in Houston, Texas, where he also resides. Hank reminds us that he was originally a member of the Class of 1945, but his college career was interrupted by World War II. After finishing his degree at Wooster, he began graduate school, but once again was called to active duty by the Navy in 1951. After going to work with Continental Oil in 1953, he retired in 1985. Since then he has worked as a consultant primarily for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico, with most of those years associated with Clyde Metz ('45). Hank also serves on the Texas Board of Governors of the Center for the Retarded in Houston. Hank and his wife, Muriel, have two adult children: Barbara and Steve. Doug Preble ('49) is a retired petroleum geologist and consultant enjoying his 20 years of retirement in the beautiful Canaan (anticlinal) Valley in Davis, West Virginia. With two ski slopes, a golf course, and trout stream, there is always plenty to do. He writes: "I am constantly reminded of my wonderful life as a petroleum geologist, since rocks ranging in age from Ordovician to Pennsylvanian are exposed within easy driving distance. The fact that my home is located on rocks of the Pocono Group of Lower Mississippian age, including petroleum-producing sands, just about makes life perfect." Julianne Buss Squier ('62) is working as a CPA in her capacity as Vice President of D.R. Maxfield and Company in Fairfax, Virginia, where she also resides. Jim Roberston ('69) writes that he is now working as a basin geologist in the mid-continent business group with Chevron U.S.A. in Houston, Texas weathering the storm of low oil and gas prices. Jim's daughter, Stacey, also a geologist, finished her second Antarctic field season last January and is now working on her Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Daughter Courtney is a senior at Trinity University (Texas) majoring in economics. Jim's wife, Ginny, is keeping the home fires burning in Houston, where the Robertson family has their headquarters. Scott Bair ('73), Professor of Geology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, has developed a new course entitled "Science in the Courtroom" which concentrates on the 1986 court case of Anne Anderson v. W. R. Grace and Company, the court case upon which the book and movie "A Civil Action" are based. It involves not only the students in the geology class but also students enrolled in a trial law course, culminating in a mock trial. Scott was also awarded an endowed lectureship by the Geological Society of America to travel and lecture at colleges and universities around the country. Scott and his wife, Julie, reside in Dublin, Ohio, with their teenage daughter, Katie. Patricia Hagelin-Kelley ('75) is enjoying her time as Department Chair and Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Last year she was elected President of the Paleontological Society, which is a six-year term including two years as President and two as past President. Her husband, Jonathan ('76), is pastor of the Southport Presbyterian Church in Southport, North Carolina, where the family resides. They have one son and one daughter: Timothy (17) and Katherine (13). Jerry Weisenfluh ('75) is a Geologist with the Kentucky Geological Survey, which is based at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Jerry and his wife, Sherri, also reside in Lexington. Karen Havholm ('76) is a professor of Geology at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, where she has been named a Distinguished Speaker of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for 1999-2000. She will be traveling the country speaking on national science education standards and helping current and future elementary Earth science teachers understand Earth science. Karen and her husband, Glenn Reynolds, have a teenage daughter, Merilie. In his annual Christmas greeting, Kaz Aoki ('77) reported that he finished the ten-year research project on which he was working in Kamaishi, Japan, and was transferred back to Tokyo in September 1998. His company, now called Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Agency, has gone through a restructuring process, and he wasn't sure where he would be by this time this year. His family stayed in Kamaishi in order for their children to finish their respective school years. Kaz and his wife, Sachiko, have four daughters: Lisa (15), Yuki (13), Emi (11), and Maki (9). We look forward to hearing from Kaz soon to find out where he is now. David ("Sage") Hay ('77) is working with TRC Hydro-Geo Consultants in Lakewood, Colorado. His work largely involves groundwater and solute transport modeling. His clients are principally mining companies. In his spare time, he has been researching his family's genealogy. Dave lives in Littleton, Colorado, with his wife and two sons: Ian (5) and Ryan (3). "The boys are my life's greatest joy." This past year Martha DeLong ('78) married Mike Henderson, honeymooned in Natchez, and then moved to Nigeria, Africa, where she is on a "four-year tropical assignment." Actually, she is in Nigeria working for the Shell Oil Company. Mike, Martha, and her two grade-school daughters, Caroline and Anna, are really enjoying their time there. They also have a horse named Ginger, and three dogs named Alex, Meathead, and Vandal. Bob Amos ('79) is as busy as ever with his bluegrass group Front Range. They toured overseas Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and France during the Fall of 1998. Bob was pretty proud of himself that while they performed in Germany that he remembered enough German from his college days with Dr. Willie Schreiber to speak German at most of the concerts. While at home, Bob lives in Winchester, Virginia, with his wife, Anne, and children, Sarah and Nathan. Ben LeVan ('84) and Stephanie Crothers were married
in North Chili, New York, on Saturday, April 10, 1999 finally!
After years of our receiving "Ben's Chronicles" at
Christmas time, Ben writes in December of 1998: "This will
be the final issue of Ben's Chronicles, as the paper will be
forming a new partnership with another paper." We look forward
to subscribing to that publication as well. Ben and Stephanie
are living in North Chili where Ben works as a Systems Engineer
for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Rochester, New York. John Raker ('87) is enjoying life as Director of Tennis at the country club in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has also been traveling around the United States leading tennis teachers courses. His Holiday greeting card showed him in his classic car a Continental? Rob Piscetta ('87) has left trash behind and returned to sports in a manner of speaking. Rob joined the Wilson Sporting Goods Company recently as a team sports specialist. He and his wife Colleen ('89) live in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with their two daughters, Kate (2) and Madeline (5). Abe Springer ('87) had a busy year. He received tenure in the Department of Geology at Northern Arizona University and became a father as well. Abe and his wife Judy are the proud parents of one-year old Isaac born October 31, 1998. The Springer family resides in Flagstaff, Arizona. James St. John ('91) has just about completed his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In May of 1999, James was the inaugural winner of the Sanders Award given by the Dry Dredgers, Inc. for his work with the study of paleontology, describing the new species of trilobite that he discovered. Congratulations, James! While in Chengjiang, China, this past Summer, James ran into Steve Dornbos ('97) while both were conducting research for their respective degrees small world! James also will be one of our Geology Club speakers during the Fall semester of 1999. Ben Saltoun ('93) finished his Master's degree at Michigan State University and then headed to Boston where he worked with an environmental engineering company. He was feeling a bit antsy for Colorado since that's where he spent time doing research for his Senior I.S. project and decided to make a change. Ben now works with ThermoRetec in Denver, a company that works with the remediation of oil refineries. Ben and his wife yes, his wife - live in nearby Arvada. Steve Smail ('94) has completed his Master's degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Sean Flynn ('95) has completed his Master's degree in Environmental Science at Clemson University and has started law school at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Paul Kinney ('95) is busy with his graduate work at Kent State University in their M.A.T. program. We recently heard from Alan Troup that Dana Kreeger ('95) was married in September. When last we heard from Dana, he was in the Master's program at Miami University of Ohio. We'd love to hear from you, Dana! Gary Miller ('96) has been named head football coach at Richmond Heights High School in Richmond Heights, Ohio, which is near Cleveland. Colin Ozanne ('96) has finished his Master's degree
at the University of South Florida in Tampa, presenting his research
at the GSA southeast meeting in March and having a paper published
in Acta Geologica Polonica on the general trends of predation
and parasitism on inoceramid bivalves of the Cretaceous. Missing
those cold midwestern winters, Colin has moved back to Wisconsin
where he is now a law school student at the University of Wisconsin
in Madison. Steve Dornbos ('97) completed his Master's degree and has been accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Southern California starting this Fall. He met up with James St. John ('91) in Chengjiang, China this past Summer, while both were conducting research for their respective degrees. Steve will return to China in the Summer of 2000 for further research on the Chengjiang fauna for his dissertation. Ryan Murrey ('97) was recently working for Guernsey County, Ohio, where he created and maintained the county's web site. He has now moved to Seattle, Washington. Bill Hubbard ('97) is finishing his graduate work at the University of Michigan in geoarchaeology. He helped to teach oceanography, environmental geology, and physical geography. He presented a paper at the Society of American Archaeology Conference last March. This Fall he is applying to law schools. Nate Leggett ('98) is enjoying his work as a hydrogeologist with Bair, Goodie & Associates, a surveying company. He thinks that is pretty amazing since "I am actually working a job I got on my own . . . none of my relatives work here or anything!" Laura Snow ('98) took a year off after graduating and is now in graduate school at the School of Oceanography at Oregon State University in Corvallis. This past Summer she had the opportunity to travel from Oregon to Alaska on the ship Atlantis, which carries the submersible Alvin. Laura was able to take a dive in Alvin to study ancient seamounts that once were part of the Juan de Fuca ridge. The 1998 Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the Convention Center. Lori Bettison-Varga, Greg Wiles, and Mark Wilson hosted the event. Alumni and current student in attendance were:
On Monday, October 25, 1999, the Department hosted the 1999
alumni gathering at the GSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in
Denver, Colorado. |