Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Allen Archer 1952-2022

Allen Archer passed away August 12, 2022 in Manhattan, Kansas. He was a Professor Emeritus of Geology at Kansas State University. Al was born June 7, 1952, in Harford City, Indiana, the son of Don and Martha (McColly) Archer.

He attended college at Indiana University and Oregon State, and in 1979 received a PhD in Geology from Indiana University. Archer (along with E. Kvale in IGS and Johnson in Astronomy) made a name for IU studying the tidalites of Hindostan Beds vis a vis the Earth-Moon system.

You can read his obituary here

Sue McDonald 1962-2022

Susan (Sue) K McDonald, 60, of McPherson and formerly of Fargo, ND, passed away peacefully at home on April 12, 2022. Sue was a lifelong educator, most recently Professor Emerita at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas.

Sue was born on March 9, 1962, in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Clarence E. and Lois (Kay) McDonald. She graduated from Fargo North High School in 1980. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University in 1983, her Master of Science degree in Geology from Indiana State University in 1990 and Doctor of Philosophy in Physics at Indiana University in 1994. On May 10, 1987, Sue was united in marriage to Dale Griffith in Fenton, Michigan. They were married 34 years before Dale’s passing on February 5, 2022.

Throughout the years, she shared her love of Earth Science as an instructor at the yearly summer field camp experience at Indiana University’s Judson Mead Geologic Field Station in Cardwell, Montana. A residential facility was named in her honor at the Field Station in 2021.

Dr. McDonald loved working with her students and positively impacted the lives of many along the way.

You can read more about Sue's life here