UT Bureau of Economic Geology

The Bureau of Economic Geology, a research unit at the University of Texas at Austin, provides research and advice related to energy and environmental issues and performs State Geological Survey functions. The Bureau’s roots are in the nineteenth-century Texas Geological Surveys, the first of which was established by the state legislature in 1858. The second geological survey began in 1870, with John W. Glenn serving as State Geologist. Dr. Edwin Theodore Dumble, State Geologist, directed the third survey, the Geological and Mineralogical Survey, beginning in 1889. The legislature gradually began to transfer responsibility for the survey to the University of Texas, and in 1909 the UT Regents founded the Bureau of Economic Geology. Dr. William B. Phillips was appointed to be the first director of the Bureau. Subsequent directors of the Bureau included: Dr. Johan August Udden, 1915-1932; Dr. E. H. Sellards, 1932-1945; Dr. John T. Lonsdale, 1945-1960; and Dr. Peter T. Flawn, 1960-1970. Housed on campus for many years, the Bureau moved to the Balcones Research Center in 1984.