Indiana University. Dept. of Geology.

The Indiana University Department of Botany and Geology was established within the College of Arts and Sciences in 1885. The department has had several name changes throughout the years, including the Dept. of Geology, but today it is known as the Department of Geological Sciences.

Geology first appeared as a subject of instruction at Indiana University in the 1853-54 University catalog. Geology had been taught for some ten years previously, but only as a corollary to the discipline of Natural Philosophy. Early notable faculty members were Theophilus Wiley, Prof. of Natural Philosophy (1840-1852, 1855-1864); Richard Owen, Prof. of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry (1864-1879); and David Starr Jordon, Prof. of Natural Sciences (1879-1884, 1888-1891). It was not until 1885, however, that the Board of Trustees established a department devoted to the study of geological interests, called the Department of Botany and Geology. In 1886, John Caspar Branner (1885-1890) became the first chair of the newly created department. Three courses were listed, and a geology laboratory and museum were set up.

A strong relationship has long existed between Indiana University's Geology Department and the Indiana State Department of Geology and Natural Resources. An act of the General Assembly (in force since Sept. 7, 1861) provides that "the State Geologist, while he holds office, shall be regarded as a member of the Faculty of the University." In the 1860's, David Dale Owen, the first geologist to be appointed by the state in 1837 and brother of Richard Owen, donated to Indiana University his famed collection of 85,000 specimens, acquired from years in the field, including soil samples, minerals, rocks, and rare fossils. This collection became known as the Owen Cabinet and was considered to be one of the most significant archaeological and geological collections to be found on the North American continent. Most of the collection, however, was lost in the 1883 fire that decimated the Science Building of the old campus located on Seminary Square. When the new IU campus was built in 1884 another geology laboratory and museum were set up on the second floor of the newly completed Owen Hall, the first building established on the new campus. A year later, the Department of Botany and Geology was established.

In 1900 the name of the department was changed to the Department of Geology and Geography. In 1904 the word “geography” was dropped from the title, but was added again between 1931 and 1946. Changes in location also occurred during these years. In 1902 the department moved from Owen Hall to the fourth and fifth floors of the new Science Hall (now Lindley Hall), where it remained until 1937 when it returned to Owen Hall.

After Cumings' retirement as chair in 1944, Charles F. Deiss was selected as chair and State Geologist. With the return of GIs after World War II, the department grew rapidly. In 1946, a separate Department of Geography was created. The Indiana Geological Field Station in Cardwell, Montana, was built in 1949. This station was later named the Judson Mead Geological Field Station, after Professor Judson Mead who was director of the station from 1962-1984. In 1950 the faculty numbered nine and 45 Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded, the largest total to date. By the late 1950s, the program had expanded to occupy parts of Wylie Hall, Kirkwood Hall, Maxwell Hall, and miscellaneous temporary structures. In 1959, construction began on a new Geology Building on Tenth Street, which was completed in 1962.

Diess died suddenly in 1959 and John B. Patton was named his replacement for chair of the Department of Geology, a position he held until 1971. Patton also inherited Diess’ responsibilities of being head of the Indiana Geological Survey and State Geologist. As chair, Patton managed several successful summer programs and institutes funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, most of which were aimed at better educating students and instructors of geology and other earth sciences. Many of these programs were held at the Indiana Geological Field Station in Cardwell, Montana. It was decided in 1971, upon John Patton’s resignation as chair, that the geology department chair would no longer inherit these extra responsibilities, and Patton continued to act as State Geologist and head of the Indiana Geological Survey until his retirement in 1986.

Warren Meinschein served as acting chair of the geology department until Haydn Murray was appointed in 1973. Murray stepped down in 1984 and N. Gary Lane was appointed as his replacement. Lane served a three-year term as chair until 1987, initiating a policy of short-term, rotating chairs. Bob Dodd served as chair from 1987-1990; Lee Suttner was chair from 1990-1994; and John Hayes served from 1994-1996. Suttner became chair again in 1996, until C.G. Maples was hired as a new, outside, chair in the fall of 1998. In 2003 Abhijit Basu, an IU graduate of the geology department, began his tenure as chairperson, a position which he held until Simon Brassell’s appointment in July 2007.

In May 1990, the Department of Geology underwent another name change and became the Department of Geological Sciences.