John Rodgers (11 July 1914 – 7 March 2004) was an American geologist who was Silliman Professor of Geology at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Biography

He was born in Albany, New York to Henry and Louise (Allen) Rodgers and was educated at Albany Academy. He then studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he was awarded a B.A. in 1936 and an M.S. in geology in 1937. He gained a post-graduate Ph.D. at Yale University in 1944. In the latter year, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the Military Geology Branch of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

and was delegated to map beachheads from

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

in Siberia down to China and Japan. In 1946 he accepted a post in the Department of Geology at Yale, becoming in 1962 the Benjamin Silliman Professor, a position he was to hold for the rest of his career. At Yale he began to research the geology of Connecticut, producing a full geological map of the state in 1985. In 1948 he was appointed an assistant editor of the ''

American Journal of Science The ''American Journal of Science'' (''AJS'') is the United States of America's longest-running scientific journal, having been published continuously since its conception in 1818 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, who edited and financed it himself ...

'', becoming its editor from 1954 to 1995. In 1970 he served as president of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

. He was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

in 1973–74. In his private life he was a proficient pianist and linguist. He died in 2004 at his home in Hamden, Connecticut and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven in a plot reserved for people who have donated their bodies to science.

Honors and awards

* Member,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

* Member,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* Member,

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

* Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

* Fellow,

* 1947 Medal of Freedom from the U. S. Army * 1981

Penrose Medal The Penrose Medal was created in 1925 by R.A.F. Penrose, Jr., as the top prize awarded by the Geological Society of America. Originally created as the Geological Society of America Medal it was soon renamed the Penrose Medal by popular assent of ...

of the Geological Society of America * 1987

Prix Gaudry Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

of the Geological Society of France * 1987 Fourmarier Medal of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...

Works

* ''Principles of Stratigraphy'' with Carl Dunbar (1957) * ''The Company I Kept'', autobiography (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, John 1914 births 2004 deaths Scientists from Albany, New York Cornell University alumni Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American geologists Presidents of the Geological Society of America Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the American Philosophical Society The Albany Academy alumni