Penrose Medal
Encyclopedia
The Penrose Medal was created in 1927 by R.A.F. Penrose, Jr. as the top prize awarded by the Geological Society of America
to those who advance the study of geoscience.
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
to those who advance the study of geoscience.
Award winners
- 2011 Paul F. HoffmanPaul F. HoffmanPaul Felix Hoffman is a Canadian geologist and former Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University. He specializes in the Precambrian era and is widely known for the theory of the Snowball Earth about phenomena that occurred in the Neoproterozoic era, co-published with Daniel P....
- 2010 Eric J. Essene
- 2009 B. Clark BurchfielB. Clark BurchfielBurrell Clark Burchfiel is an American structural geologist. Born in Stockton, California, he earned his Ph.D. in 1961 at Yale University. His first academic appointment was to the Geology department at Rice University. He is presently the Schlumberger Professor of Geology at MIT...
- 2008 George A. Thompson
- 2007 Kevin C. A. Burke
- 2006 Steve Kesler
- 2005 Minze Stuiver
- 2004 W. Gary Ernst
- 2003 Peter R. Vail
- 2002 Walter AlvarezWalter AlvarezWalter Alvarez is a professor in the Earth and Planetary Science department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is most widely known for the theory that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid impact, developed in collaboration with his father, Nobel Prize winning physicist Luis...
- 2001 Kenneth Jinghwa HsuKenneth J. HsuKenneth J. Hsu Ph.D, M.A., born 28 June 1929, is a Swiss scientist, geologist, paleoclimatologist, oceanographer, government advisor, author, inventor and entrepreneur who was born in Nanjing, China.-Biography:EducationHsu Kenneth J. Hsu Ph.D, M.A., born 28 June 1929, is a Swiss scientist,...
- 2000 Robert L. Folk
- 1999 M. Gordon WolmanM. Gordon WolmanMarkley Gordon Wolman was an American geographer. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Haverford College before being drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he returned to Baltimore and graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1949 with a degree in Geography...
- 1998 Jack E. Oliver
- 1997 John D. Bredehoeft
- 1996 John R. L. AllenJohn R. L. AllenJohn Robert Laurence Allen FRS is a British geologist, and professor emeritus at Reading University.He won the 1996 Penrose Medal.-Works:*Sedimentary Structures vol. 1, Elsevier Science, 1982, ISBN 9780444419354*Sedimentary Structures vol...
- 1995 John C. Crowell
- 1994 Luna B. Leopold
- 1993 Alfred G. Fischer
- 1992 John Frederick DeweyJohn Frederick DeweyJohn Frederick Dewey is a British structural geologist and a strong proponent of the theory of plate tectonics, building upon the early work undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s...
- 1991 William R. Dickinson
- 1990 Norman D. NewellNorman D. NewellNorman Dennis Newell was professor of geology at Columbia University, and chairman and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.-Personal life:...
- 1989 Warren Bell Hamilton
- 1988 Robert S. DietzRobert S. DietzRobert Sinclair Dietz was Professor of Geology at Arizona State University. Dietz was a marine geologist, geophysicist and oceanographer who conducted pioneering research along with Harry Hammond Hess concerning seafloor spreading, published as early as 1960–1961...
- 1987 Marland P. BillingsMarland P. BillingsMarland Pratt Billings was an American structural geologist who was considered one of the greatest authorities on North American geology. Billings was Professor of Geology at Harvard University for almost his entire career, having joined the faculty in 1930 and retired to emeritus status in 1972...
- 1986 Laurence L. Sloss
- 1985 Rudolf TrümpyRudolf TrumpyRudolf Trümpy is a Swiss Geologist, who was born in the small Swiss town of Glarus. He graduated from the ETH Zürich in the late 1940s with a thesis titled: “Der Lias der Glarner Alpen”. From 1947 to 1953 he spent his post-doctoral years in Lausanne before being appointed professor at ETH Zürich...
- 1984 Donald E. White
- 1983 G. Arthur Cooper
- 1982 Aaron C. Waters
- 1981 John Rodgers
- 1980 Hollis Dow HedbergHollis Dow HedbergHollis Dow Hedberg was an American geologist specialising in petroleum exploration. He taught at Princeton University from 1959 until his retirement in 1971. Hedberg was awarded the Mary Clark Thompson Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1973...
- 1979 J Harlen BretzJ Harlen BretzJ Harlen Bretz was an American geologist, best known for his research that led to the acceptance of the Missoula Floods, and also for his work on caves. He was born to Oliver Joseph Bretz and Rhoda Maria Howlett, farmers in Saranac, Michigan, as the oldest of five children...
- 1978 Robert M. Garrels
- 1977 Robert P. Sharp
- 1976 Preston CloudPreston CloudPreston Ercelle Cloud, Jr. was an American paleontologist, geographer, and professor. He was best-known for his work on the geologic time scale and the origin of life on Earth.-Early life:...
- 1975 Francis J. PettijohnFrancis J. PettijohnFrancis John Pettijohn was a prominent American geologist who served for many years on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University.Pettijohn received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1923 based on a study of Precambrian sedimentology and structure of an area around Abram Lake,...
- 1974 William Maurice Ewing
- 1973 M. King HubbertM. King HubbertMarion King Hubbert was a geoscientist who worked at the Shell research lab in Houston, Texas. He made several important contributions to geology, geophysics, and petroleum geology, most notably the Hubbert curve and Hubbert peak theory , with important political ramifications. He was often...
- 1972 Wilmot H. Bradley
- 1971 Marshall KayMarshall KayMarshall Kay was a geologist and professor at Columbia University. He is best known for his studies of the Ordovician of New York, Newfoundland, and Nevada, but his studies were global and he published widely on the stratigraphy of the middle and upper Ordovician. Kay's careful fieldwork provided...
- 1970 Ralph Alger BagnoldRalph Alger BagnoldBrigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS OBE, was the founder and first commander of the British Army's Long Range Desert Group during World War II. He is also generally considered to have been a pioneer of desert exploration, an acclaim earned for his activities during the 1930s...
- 1969 Francis BirchFrancis Birch (geophysicist)Albert Francis Birch was an American geophysicist best known for his experimental work on the properties of Earth-forming minerals at high pressure and temperature, in 1952 he published a well-known paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research ,where he demonstrated that the mantle is chiefly...
- 1968 J. Tuzo Wilson
- 1967 Herbert Harold ReadHerbert Harold ReadHerbert Harold Read FRS, FRSE, FGS, was a British geologist and Professor of Geology at Imperial College...
- 1966 Harry H. HessHarry Hammond HessHarry Hammond Hess was a geologist and United States Navy officer in World War II.Considered one of the "founding fathers" of the unifying theory of plate tectonics, Rear Admiral Harry Hammond Hess was born on May 24, 1906 in New York City...
- 1965 Philip Burke KingPhilip Burke KingPhilip Burke King was a geologist who worked for the United States Geological Survey. He was born in Chester, Indiana. King graduated from Iowa State University and Yale University . He spent most of his career from 1930 onward as a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey...
- 1964 Donnel Foster Hewett
- 1963 William Walden RubeyWilliam Walden RubeyWilliam Walden Rubey was an American geologist.He was born in Moberly, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri, and in 1920 he graduated with an A.B. degree. During the same year he married Susan Elsie Manovill, and joined the U.S. Geological Survey...
- 1962 Alfred Sherwood Romer
- 1961 Philip Henry KuenenPhilip Henry KuenenPhilip Henry Kuenen was a Dutch geologist.Kuenen spent his earliest youth in Scotland, where his father was professor in physics. He studied geology at Leiden University, where he was a pupil of K. Martin and B.G. Escher. He finished his studies in 1925 and then became assistant to Escher...
- 1960 Walter Hermann BucherWalter Hermann BucherDr. Walter Hermann Bucher was a German-American geologist and paleontologist.He was born in Akron, Ohio of Swiss-German parents. The family then returned to Germany where he was raised. In 1911 he was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Heidelberg with a focus on geology and paleontology. The...
- 1959 Adolph Knopf
- 1958 James Gilluly
- 1957 Bruno Sander
- 1956 Arthur HolmesArthur HolmesArthur Holmes was a British geologist. As a child he lived in Low Fell, Gateshead and attended the Gateshead Higher Grade School .-Age of the earth:...
- 1955 Maurice Gignoux
- 1954 Arthur Francis Buddington
- 1953 Esper S. Larsen, Jr.
- 1952 George Gaylord SimpsonGeorge Gaylord SimpsonGeorge Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern evolutionary synthesis, contributing Tempo and mode in evolution , The meaning of evolution and The major features of...
- 1951 Pentti Eskola
- 1950 Morley Evans Wilson
- 1949 Wendell P. Woodring
- 1948 Hans CloosHans CloosHans Cloos was a prominent German structural geologist.Born in Magdeburg, Germany, Hans Cloos earned his doctorate at Freiburg in 1910, then worked in Indonesia and Namibia up until the start of First World War...
- 1947 Arthur Louis DayArthur Louis DayLouis Day was an American geological physicist. He was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts. Day established the Arthur L. Day Medal , for "outstanding distinction in contributing to geologic knowledge through the application of physics and chemistry to the solution of geologic problems", in...
- 1946 T. Wayland Vaughan
- 1945 Felix Andries Vening MeineszFelix Andries Vening MeineszFelix Andries Vening Meinesz was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist. He is known for his invention of a precise method for measuring gravity. Thanks to his invention, it became possible to measure gravity at sea, which led him to the discovery of gravity anomalies above the ocean floor...
- 1944 Bailey WillisBailey WillisBailey Willis was a geological engineer who worked for the United States Geological Survey , and lectured at two prominent American universities. He also played a key role in getting Mount Rainier designated as a national park in 1899...
- 1943 No award given
- 1942 Charles Kenneth LeithCharles Kenneth LeithCharles Kenneth Leith was an American geologist. He was head of the University of Wisconsin–Madison geology department for thirty years. In 1942, he won the Penrose Medal, the highest award given in the geosciences....
- 1941 Norman Levi Bowen
- 1940 Nelson Horatio DartonNelson Horatio DartonNelson Horatio Darton was a geologist who worked for the United States Geological Survey. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and started working in his uncle's drug business at the age of 13, also becoming a practicing chemist. His interest in geology started as a sideline, and he was hired by...
- 1939 William Berryman ScottWilliam Berryman ScottWilliam Berryman Scott was an American vertebrate paleontologist, authority on mammals, and principal author of the White River Oligocene monographs. He was a professor of geology and paleontology at Princeton University....
- 1938 Andrew Cowper Lawson
- 1937 No award given
- 1936 Arthur Philemon ColemanArthur Philemon ColemanArthur Philemon Coleman was a Canadian geologist and academic.-Biography:Born in Lachute, Quebec, the son of Rev. Francis Coleman and Emmeline Maria Adams , he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1876 and Master of Arts in 1880 from Victoria College in Cobourg, Ontario. He received a Ph.D...
- 1935 Reginald Aldworth DalyReginald Aldworth Daly-External links:* Daly′s Biography, American Geophysical Union* GSA Today, vol. 16, no. 2, 2006* National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 36 pp., 1960...
- 1934 Charles SchuchertCharles SchuchertCharles Schuchert was an American invertebrate paleontologist who was a leader in the development of paleogeography, the study of the distribution of lands and seas in the geological past.-Biography:...
- 1933 Waldemar LindgrenWaldemar LindgrenWaldemar Lindgren was a Swedish-American geologist. Lindgren was one of the founders of modern Economic geology.-Biography:...
- 1932 Edward Oscar UlrichEdward Oscar UlrichEdward Oscar Ulrich was an invertebrate paleontologist specializing in the study of Paleozoic fossils.-Biography:...
- 1931 William Morris DavisWilliam Morris DavisWilliam Morris Davis was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography"....
- 1930 François Alfred Antoine Lacroix
- 1929 No award given
- 1928 Jakob Johannes Sederholm
- 1927 Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin