December, 1997
December, 2007
FACULTY FACULTY
A. Basu, S. Brassell, J. Brophy, J.Dodd, J. Dunning, M.

Hamburger, N. Hestor, C. Johnson, E. Kauffman, N. Kro-
the, R. Mackie, E. Merino, G. Olyphant, L. Onesti, G. Pav-
lis, L. Pratt, E. Ripley, A. Rudman, M. Savarese, L. Suttner
(Chair), D. Towell, R. Wintsch.

ENROLLMENTS Undergraduate geology major enrollment experienced a
modest increase to 40; graduate enrollment was 66 with
a near equal number of Ph.D. and M.S. candidates. The
Department’s undergraduate enrollment climbed from
sixth to fifth in the Big Ten; its graduate enrollment re-
mained the second largest in this group of institutions.

STORIES At its annual meeting in September, the Department’s
Advisory Board officially announced the kick-off of the
largest endowment campaign in the history of the De-
partment, if not the largest in the history of any depart-
ment in the University — Geological Sciences at the Fore-
front: “$5 million in five years.”
Representatives from six different energy industries re-
cruited in the Department in spring and fall.

As noted in the September issue of Geotimes, IU geo-
physicists have participated in the Princeton Geophysics
Program, funded by NSF. This project links two objec-
tives: to provide earth science and physics high school
students with hands-on training in seismology, and to
create a nationwide network of seismograph stations ca-
pable of providing useful data to researchers.

Fifteen alumni and friends participated in the sixth an-
nual Alumni College at the Field Station led by Gary Lane
and Tom Straw.

A. Basu, D. Bish, S. Brassell (Chair), J. Dunning, M. Ham-
burger, C. Johnson, K. Johnson, G. Olyphant, G. Pavlis, M.

Person, P. Polly, L. Pratt, E. Ripley, B. Ritts, J. Schieber, R.

Wintsch, C. Zhu.

STORIES The Department’s U.S. News national ranking, in the re-
gion of 75 in 1985, has risen to 34th, in 2006.

The groundbreaking for the second Multidisciplinary
Science Building (MSB II) is expected soon, with an
optimistic schedule for occupancy in early 2009. The
state-of-the-art laboratory space will house the research
programs of several of our faculty, notably those in bio-
geochemistry and those involved in environmental sci-
ence research.

More than 80 people attended the 2006 Holiday party
at The Fields in Bloomington. Undergraduates put on a
“Project Runway” show in which students impersonat-
ed Departmental Professors. Professor Wintsch barely
edged out Professor Bish for the high honor of the Screw-
ball Award.

The Field Station hosted a forum “Does Need Exist for a
National Center for Geoscience Education in the Field?
If so, How do We Get There?” More than 50 participants
from academia and industry attended. The University
provided over $115,000 to upgrade the lodge and make
other facility improvements.

Faculty external research grants in the Department to-
taled 33. (The per faculty total of external funding was
reported to be in the top fifth of the Big Ten.)
Sadly, two long-time Department faculty, N. Gary Lane
and David Towell passed away in 2006-07.

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