Department History

Field Station History

The present Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences can trace its beginnings virtually to the origin of Iowa State , although many of the details are somewhat obscure. This brief history is written in such a way as to trace the development of the different subdisciplines represented in the department along with the evolution of Iowa State University and what is now the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Information for this write-up was taken mostly from a more detailed document prepared in 1977 by former department head and Dean Emeritus Chalmer J. Roy, plus material gleaned from Profiles of Iowa State History, also published in 1977.

The Iowa Agricultural College , forerunner to Iowa State , was chartered on 22 March 1858. It was awarded Iowa 's Morrill Land Grant on 29 March 1864 (the first in the nation to accept the terms of the Morrill Act) and opened to 93 students on 17 March 1869 with degree programs in agriculture and "mechanics." The first course of study published in 1870 listed a course in "Geology and Mineralogy." The catalog of 1874-75 included a course in "Geology" taught by either Professor Hutchins or Macomber, who are listed as professors of chemistry, meteorology, and geology. The course carried five credits and was required in the first semester of the senior year for students in agriculture, horticulture and forestry, stock breeding, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, mining engineering, architecture, and general science for ladies. By 1886 the course was taught by Professor Osborn, listed as professor of zoology and entomology, and in 1889 the Department of Zoology, Entomology and Geology was established. The department was housed in Morrill Hall.

In 1891 Samuel W. Beyer was appointed assistant in zoology and geology, and in 1892 the course offerings were increased to three: geology, economic geology, and mineralogy. Also in 1891, the liberal arts and sciences courses were separated from the curriculum in agriculture. In 1898 Iowa Agricultural College changed its name to Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts. That same year the Department of Geology and Mining Engineering was formed and housed in Engineering Hall. Professor Beyer was named head of the department. Three years later the department was split into the Department of Geology, listed under Science, and the Department of Mining Engineering, listed under Engineering. Professor Beyer continued as head of both departments.

In 1904 the liberal arts and science courses were organized under the "division of science related to the industries" which later earned the formal designation of the Division of Industrial Science when it, Home Economics, and Graduate Programs were given full divisional status on a level with Agriculture, Engineering, and Veterinary Medicine in 1913.

Courses offered by the Department of Geology in 1900 included physiography, general geology, advanced geology, economic geology, mineralogy, descriptive and determinative mineralogy, petrography, and geology of coal. In 1902-03 a major in geology became available at the undergraduate level. A course in agricultural geology was added that year and one in engineering geology in 1904. A course in meteorology and climatology was added in 1908, apparently the first such course to be offered in the department. Dr. S. L. Galpin was hired as an assistant professor in 1914, and four new courses in paleontology were added. This was also the first year in which mention of graduate studies was made in the catalog with provision for both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology. (The first M.S. degree from Iowa State was awarded in 1877 in botany. The first Ph.D. was earned in 1916, also in botany.)

The catalog of 1914-15 lists a major in "Applied Geology Group" and lists 30 separate courses offered by the department. Mr. J. E. Smith (M.S. Iowa State College) was hired as an assistant professor in 1918.In 1920 the department was moved from Engineering Hall and given six rooms in the newly built Chemistry Building. From 1922-23 until 1934-35, students could major in either agricultural geology or mining geology.

The first geography courses at Iowa State were offered in the Geology Department starting 1925 and included a three-course sequence in industrial geography that was offered continuously until 1941. A one-quarter course in agricultural geography was offered from 1932 to 1945. Apparently, however, these courses were taught by geologists rather than geographers. The five-year plan for the department submitted in 1935 contained the following recommendation:
"Inasmuch as geography [is] offered through the Department of Geology at Iowa State College the following plans with regard to (this] subject are presented.

A. Geography. It is believed that this subject should have an important place in the program of Iowa State College. It is thought undesirable, however, to make its ultimate development a part of the geology department program. Therefore, plan to:

1. Develop the subject within the department through:
   a. Addition to the staff of at least one staff member well trained to the field
   b. Offering suitable courses
   c. Proper publicity of such courses
2. Organize a separate department of geography as soon as facilities permit and the demand warrants it."

In 1927 Dr. C. S. Gwynne (Cornell, 1927) joined the faculty as an assistant professor. At this time, the department consisted of four faculty members (Gwynne, Beyer, Galpin, Smith), one of whom (Beyer) was also Dean of Science. Dr. Beyer died in 1932, and in 1935 Dr. J. T. Lonsdale was appointed department head. In 1939 the "Division of Industrial Science" was changed to the "Division of Science."

The outbreak of WWII depleted the thin ranks of the department, leaving only one faculty member (Gwynne) from 1943 to 1947.In 1945 the meteorology program was transferred to the Physics Department, stimulated by the training of meteorologists during WWII involving sophisticated instrumentation and the onset of active research programs on campus in atmospheric physics during the mid-40s. Three new geography courses were introduced by the department in 1945 but were not actually taught until 1951.In 1947 Dr. Robert Ruhe (M.S., Iowa State, 1948) was appointed instructor in geology. Dr. Chalmer J. Roy (Harvard, 1936) was appointed Professor and Head in 1947, ushering in the modern era of the department.

One of Dr. Roy's first accomplishments was to establish a geology field station near Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1948. On campus additional classroom space was allocated in the Physics Building and a temporary building named Building E. Dr. Leo Thomas was hired that year as an assistant professor, and Dr. Keith M. Hussey (Louisiana State Univ., 1940) was hired as an associate professor in 1949. In 1955 the Geology Department moved to new space in the basement of Science I. This space was adequate for faculty offices and some classrooms but was not large enough to accommodate the total requirements of the department. Temporary space in other buildings across campus was still needed.

Drs. Roy and Hussey initiated several research projects in the early '50s despite a dearth of equipment. Particular projects included an investigation of the geologic factors influencing the quality of Iowa limestones as coarse aggregates in concrete (funded in part by the Iowa Highway Commission), a joint project with the Department of Statistics to make a statistical analysis of the methods of geologic exploration for uranium in the Colorado Plateau area (funded by the Atomic Energy Commission), and a detailed petrographic study of loess and glacial deposits of Iowa in cooperation with the soils engineering laboratory (partially funded by the Geological Society of America).This project was later expanded and led to a 10-year investigation (1954-64) beginning with engineering properties of certain soils of Alaska and expanding to several projects concerned with the general geology of the region. Dr. Hussey headed this project, which was funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Arctic Institute of North America.

The geography course offerings were reduced to two in 1952-53, World Geography and Economic Geography. Dr. Hussey (a geologist) was in charge of these courses and taught them with a strong emphasis on geologic principles. Ruhe resigned in 1951, reducing the department faculty to four.

The small size of the departmental faculty in the years since 1914-15, when graduate work was first approved for the department, effectively precluded a doctoral program. As a consequence of the small faculty, the doctorate in geology was dropped from the catalog, even though no formal statement was ever made revoking the authority of the department to offer this program. In 1953 formal approval was granted for students within the department to earn the Ph.D. degree with "a divided major with departments authorized to offer work for the doctorate." Dr. Richard Handy, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at ISU, received the first Ph.D. under this program in 1956, having majored in geology and engineering science.

Dr. John Lemish (Michigan, 1955) was hired as assistant professor in 1955. Dr. Lemish assumed responsibility for the limestone aggregate project and continued this research from 1955-1970.The first geochemical laboratory was established as a result of this research, and results from this project were published by the National Research Council. Donald L. Biggs (Illinois, 1956) was hired in 1956. The summer field station, now under the direction of Dr. Hussey, was relocated to a permanent site in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming in 1957.

Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts ceased to exist on 4 July 1959 and was replaced by Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Concomitantly, the Division of Science became the College of Sciences and Humanities.

A period of enrollment explosion in the University began in the early 1960s. The department also experienced a period of expansion and a redefinition of emphasis beginning in the early '60s and continuing for over a decade. The first major item of analytical instrumentation, an X-ray diffractometer, was purchased in 1960.Dr. Roy became Dean of the College of Sciences and Humanities in 1962, and Dr. Hussey became department head. The following year, Dr. Lyle Sendlein (Iowa State, 1963), who had been hired as an instructor in 1961, was promoted to assistant professor, and Dr. Carl Vondra (Nebraska, 1963) was appointed assistant professor. Approval was given in 1963 for the department to offer a doctoral program without the restriction of a double major. Dr. Charles Payton (Missouri, 1963) was given a one-year appointment as assistant professor in 1964. Drs. Karl Seifert (Wisconsin, 1963) and Robert Palmquist (Wisconsin, 1965) were each hired as assistant professor on tenure track in 1965. That same year Dr. Thomas died.

In 1966 Dr. Vondra assumed responsibility for the summer field program. About this time, the department received several grants from NSF for undergraduate traineeships at the field station in Wyoming. Research efforts by faculty in the department at that time included land-use problems, including groundwater and solid waste disposal, sedimentological and stratigraphy problems in the Big Horn Basin with emphasis on the environmental setting of units containing fossils of early vertebrates, and chemistry and mechanical properties of anorthosites. A rock deformation lab was set up in the Botany annex with NSF funds and later transferred to Science I when space for the department was expanded in 1972.

During the early to mid '60s, the department was heavily involved in upgrading science teaching in the secondary schools. Dr. Roy became the National Chairman of the Earth Science Curriculum Project (ESCP), Drs. Lemish and Thomas conducted National Science Foundation Summer Institutes on campus for earth science teachers, and Dr. Hussey conducted NSF-sponsored field projects for earth science teachers at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Largely as a result of interest in the ESCP and related projects, the direction of the department was altered to emphasize the broader aspects of the earth sciences. In 1965 meteorology rejoined the department, and the name was changed to Department of Earth Science. (The Meteorology program, which had been transferred to the Physics Department in 1945, was suspended in the late '50s when several key faculty went to the University of Arizona. Since that time, formal instruction in meteorology was done in the Agricultural Climatology program in the Department of Agronomy. Interest in atmospheric physics had continued within the Physics Department until 1964, at which time the last meteorologist in Physics resigned. Physics requested that the meteorology program be formally dropped from their administrative responsibilities, and Dean Roy shifted official responsibility of that program to this department. A meteorologist was hired during each of the following two years, Dr. Gale Biggs (Michigan, 1965) in 1966 and Dr. Douglas Yarger (Arizona, 1967) in 1967, each with a split appointment between the Department of Earth Science and the Department of Agronomy. Dr. G. Biggs' appointment was 50-50 split between the two colleges, and Dr. Yarger's was 70% Science & Humanities, 30% Agriculture.

The Meteorology Program was housed in Curtiss (Agricultural) Hall, along with the Agricultural Climatology Program.

Dr. Gwynne retired in 1967, and another geologist, Dr. Robert Cody (Colorado, 1968), was hired. Ms. Jane Zaring (M.A., Indiana, 1966) was appointed as an instructor in geography, also in 1967.In 1968 Dr. Gale Biggs resigned, and Mr. Harry Vaughn (M.S., Iowa State, 1968), who had been a research associate with the Ames Laboratory and Agronomy since 1963, was hired as an instructor in meteorology (with a 25-75 split appointment between Earth Science and Agronomy). Mr. Vaughn was promoted to assistant professor in 1969.

The trend to broaden the department continued in the early 1970s, commencing with the appointment of Dr. Fred DeLuca (Oklahoma, 1970) in earth science education. (Dr. DeLuca's appointment was split with the Department of Education in the College of Education.) The following year, Dr. Mushtaq-Ur Rahman (Louisiana State Univ., 1960) was appointed associate professor of geography, the first faculty member on tenure-track appointment trained especially in geography since that subject was originally offered in the department in 1925. Dr. Gene Takle (ISU, 1971) was appointed to fill the assistant professor of meteorology position created when Dr. G. Biggs resigned. Dr. Takle's appointment was also split between Earth Science and Agronomy. Another meteorologist, Dr. John Brown (MIT, 1973), was hired as an assistant professor in 1972.Dr. Brown was the first meteorologist with a 100% appointment within the Department of Earth Science.

In 1972 additional space became available in the east wing of the Science I building when Zoology moved to new quarters. Geology and geography moved into these new quarters, but meteorology remained in Curtiss Hall with the Ag Climatology program.

Dr. Roy retired as dean in 1972 and returned part time to the department faculty. The following year Dr. Gwynne died. Dr. Hussey retired as department head in 1974 and returned to the departmental faculty. Dr. Bert E. Nordlie (Chicago, 1967) was appointed professor and chairman that same year. In 1976 the name was changed to "Department of Earth Sciences," the addition of the "s" signifying the plurality of the department.

At the time of Dr. Nordlie's appointment, the faculty consisted of 9.5 FTE geologists (exclusive of Dr. Nordlie), 2.45 FTE meteorologists, and 2.5 FTE geographers (one on tenure track, one instructor, and one half-time temporary position). Research among the faculty members included: sedimentological and stratigraphic investigations in Wyoming, Egypt, India, Pakistan, with emphasis on deposits containing fossils of vertebrates including early hominids, (Vondra); rare earth element distribution studies in massif-type anorthosites using facilities at the Ames Lab Research Reactor (Seifert); land-use problems, including geologic factors affecting landfill location and operation and groundwater quality (Sendlein and Palmquist); coal geology at the Iowa coal mine (Lemish and Sendlein).Equipment and instrumentation included the old X-ray diffractometer, one atomic absorption spectrophotometer, one variable strain rate apparatus (Griggs press), one 24-channel Ad seismograph, down-hole logging equipment, surveying instruments, and a four-wheel drive field vehicle, plus standard rock preparation equipment (saws, grinders, pulverizers, etc.).

Under Dr. Nordlie's guidance, the department shifted its emphasis away from becoming a very broad to a focusing of purpose, especially in areas of research that were quantitative. This shift was reflected strongly in new faculty hirings, changes in research direction away from more applied topics to areas of basic research, and in the acquisition and upgrade of equipment and instrumentation. A large percentage of the faculty has experienced a turnover since 1974 with one non-tenure-track and eight tenure-track members leaving due to either retirement or resignation. These positions were replaced with nine new faculty hirings, all at the assistant professor level, and two permanently budgeted research associate positions for a net increase of one tenure-track FTE and two non-faculty staff but no overall increase in number of faculty. Two geochemists/petrologists, Drs. Steven M. Richardson (Harvard, 1975) and Kenneth E. Windom (Penn State, 1976), were appointed in 1977, replacing Dr. Roy, who became emeritus professor and dean, and Dr. Sendlein, who resigned. (Dr. Catherine Richardson was given an adjunct position within the department at the same time.) Ms. Zaring also resigned in 1977. Two atmospheric scientists, Dr. Tsing-Chang (Mike) Chen (Michigan, 1975) and Dr. Ronald J. Dobosy (Wisconsin, 1978), were hired in 1978. One of these positions was a replacement for Dr. Brown who resigned; the other represented a new tenure-track meteorology position created out of the non-tenure-track position of instructor in geography previously held by Ms. Zaring. Both of these meteorology positions were allocated 100% within the department rather than being split with Agronomy.

Dr. Hussey became emeritus professor in 1979, and the department was allowed to convert one FTE at the full professor level to form two FTE assistant professor positions. Dr. William 0. Sayre (Southampton, England, 1980), a paleomagnetist, was appointed in 1979, and Dr. Carl E. Jacobson (UCLA, 1980), a structural/metamorphic geologist, was hired in 1980. Dr. Palmquist resigned in 1981 and was replaced by Dr. Robert A. Stewart (Western Ontario, 1982), a geomorphologist, in 1982.Dr. Sayre resigned in 1983, and Dr. Paul Spry (Toronto, 1984), an economic geologist, joined the faculty that year. Dr. Alfred Kracher (Vienna, Austria, 1974) was hired as a Research Associate II, microprobe specialist, in 1984. This was a new, non-faculty position. Dr. Dobosy resigned in 1984 and was replaced by Dr. Terry R. Nathan (SUNY, Albany, 1985), an atmosphere dynamicist, in 1985, thus establishing an emphasis in atmospheric dynamics in the atmospheric sciences program. One tenure-track FTE was converted to a Laboratory Associate II, position when Mr. Bruce Tanner (M.S., Penn State, 1984) was hired in 1985 to be in charge of equipment and analytical instrumentation exclusive of the microprobe. Dr. Biggs retired in 1986; his salary was transferred to graduate assistantships at the time, much of which has been reverted to the College, and the department was not allowed to replace him with another sedimentary petrologist. Dr. Kenneth Windom served as associate chair of the department during the 1987-88 academic year. Dr. Stewart resigned in 1988. Dr. Nordlie stepped down as chairman in 1988, and Dr. Seifert was appointed to fill this position for a three-year term.

During Dr. Seifert's term as chairman, much of the department's effort was focused on developing a program in hydrogeology and environmental geology. Dr. William Simpkins (Wisconsin, 1989) was hired as an assistant professor in 1989 and rapidly established a lab facility and field program that attracted both graduate students and external funding. The department received permission in 1990 to search for an organic geochemist--the next priority on our list for expansion of the hydrogeology program--but no successful candidate was identified. The search was renewed in 1991 and an offer was made, but all faculty hiring was frozen by the Provost before a contract was signed.

Several other changes in staff took place during Dr. Seifert's term. Dr. Nathan resigned to take a faculty position at the University of California (Davis). He was replaced first temporarily by Dr. Michael Fortune (Colorado State University, 1989) during the 1989-90 and 1990-91 academic years and then permanently by Dr William Gutowski (MIT, 1984) in the fall of 1991.Funding for Dr. Gutowski's position was secured by combining two T.A. positions and adding a portion of the overhead funds returned to the department from Dr. Chen's research grants. Mr. Harry Vaughn retired from the meteorology program in 1990, and was not replaced. During 1990, the department extended adjunct appointments to Dr. Richard Markuszewski and Dr. Matthew Kramer, both of the DOE Ames Laboratory. Dr. Markuszewski has since left the university. Bruce Tanner resigned in 1991 to take a position at the University of California (Santa Cruz). He was replaced in 1992 by Scott Thieben (MS, Iowa State, 1980) who was hired away from the University of Texas where he had been a staff research scientist.

The department's longstanding connection with geography was ended in 1989 when the Iowa Board of Regents approved the transfer of Dr. Mushtaq-Ur Rahman and all efforts in cultural geography to the college's anthropology program (which then gained formal status as the new Department of Anthropology). By agreement at the time, the only geography course to remain in our department was the introductory physical geography course which has since been dropped. As the geography program left, the Board of Regents also approved a change in the name of the department to the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Seifert resigned as chairman in June 1991 and was succeeded by Dr. Carl Vondra. Dr. Steven Richardson was appointed to serve as associate chair.

During Dr. Vondra's tenure as chair of the department there were several additions to the faculty as well as two retirements and one resignation. Dr. Lemish retired in the spring of 1992 after 37 years of service. He was not immediately replaced, however, the department received approval in 1993 to add a contaminant hydrogeologist to strengthen the new hydrogeology program. Dr. Blythe Hoyle (California-Davis, 1994) was hired to fill the position in 1994. In 1993 Dr. Michael Burkart (Iowa, 1976) of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory at Iowa State and Dr. Tracy Vallier (Oregon State, 1967) of the U.S. Geological Survey at Menlo Park were appointed as collaborators at the rank of associate professor. Dr. Richardson as appointed director of the new Center for Teaching Excellence in 1993. He stepped down from his position as associate chair at that time and accepted a split appointment with the Provost's office. Dr. Jacobson then was named the associate chair. However, Dr. Jacobson resigned in 1995 in order to concentrate his efforts on his research program. Dr. Spry was then appointed to the position. Dr. William Gallus (Colorado State, 1993) was hired in 1995 to fill a new position in synoptic meteorology and Dr. Jane Pedrick Dawson (New Mexico, 1995) was appointed adjunct assistant professor in 1996. Dr. Bert Nordlie announced his early retirement and approval was received to search for a geomorphologist with GIS expertise during the fall of 1996. This new position was to compliment the faculty participating in the hydrogeology program and in the emerging environmental sciences program. Dr. Neal Iverson (Minnesota, 1989) a glaciologist, was hired and joined the faculty in the fall of 1997. Dr. Richardson resigned to accept a position as vice provost and Dean at Bowling Green State University. A search is currently underway to fill his position with an environmental geophysicist.

The recent new and replacement positions involved significant start up funds for the remodeling of research laboratories and the purchase of new analytical equipment. A hydrogeology laboratory (Room 165) a contaminant hydrogeology laboratory (Room 357) and a glaciology laboratory (Room 353) were remodeled and equipped. All currently serve as teaching laboratories. Several other improvements were made during the 1990's as a result of block budgeting with funds obtained from salary savings. A new computer laboratory was established (Room 255) and equipped, the departmental office was painted, carpeted and newly furnished and a teaching laboratory (Room 157) and classroom (Room 159) were significantly upgraded.

Dr. Vondra stepped down as chairman of the department in June of 1997. He was succeeded by Dr. Paul Spry. Dr. Carl Jacobson was appointed associate chair. Dr. Jacobson became department chair in 2001.

The department offers degrees through the Ph.D. in geology, earth science, and meteorology. The programs in geology and meteorology are designed primarily for students who will assume traditional careers in those fields. The earth science degree programs are intended largely for those who will be entering the teaching profession. Students who earn earth science degrees typically take concurrent course work leading to licensing in secondary education. Undergraduate and graduate enrollments in geology and earth science peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s, following a national trend driven by employment opportunities. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, career opportunities for earth scientists shifted away from mineral and energy resource exploration and development (the almost exclusive emphasis prior to 1985) toward environmental control and restoration (including the broad field of water resources). TheDepartment of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences recognized this change by modifying its curricula and making other programmatic changes to support a major emphasis in hydrogeology and environmental geology. Student enrollments at all levels, but particularly at the undergraduate level, have gradually increased. Slightly fewer than half of all geology graduate students are now doing research in hydrogeology. Undergraduate enrollments in meteorology increased dramatically in the fist half of the 1990s. With approximately 58 undergraduates, the department now has one of the largest undergraduate programs in meteorology in the country.