Shuler, Ellis W. (Ellis William), 1881-

Ellis William Shuler was born on Oct. 15, 1881, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia near the small settlement of Corners Rock. He was the son of Rev. James Alexander Hamilton Shuler and Amanda Harrington Shuler. Ellis W. Shuler’s father entered the Methodist ministry in the Holston Conference of the Southern Methodist Church in 1886 and from then until his death in 1932, Rev. Shuler was active in pulpits and circuits in Southwest Virginia and parts of the contiguous states.

Ellis Shuler became interested in geology as a child after a series of tremors known as the Giles County Earthquake that shook the Southwest Virginia region in May 1897. After the earthquake, Shuler’s father made an urgent request of the United States Geological Survey that these phenomena be studied, and Marius R. Campbell was sent to investigate. After completing his field studies, Campbell joined the Shuler family for several days at Mountain Lake on nearby Salt Pond Mountain. Young Shuler became well acquainted with the great geologist and undoubtedly decided to follow in his footsteps.

In 1899, Shuler entered Emory & Henry College at Emory, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from there in Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1904, a Master of Arts degree in English from Vanderbilt University in 1907, a Master of Arts degree in geology from Harvard in 1914, and a PhD from Harvard in 1915.

In 1915, he was hired as one of the first members of the faculty at Southern Methodist University as an Associate Professor of Geology. He was given the title of Professor in 1918. He was made Dean of the Graduate School in 1926 and retired in 1952. He was the last of the original 35 professors to leave SMU. He died at the age of 72 in 1954.

Throughout his career, Shuler was a member of many professional organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Geographers, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the National Parks Association. In 1922, he was made a fellow in the Geological Society of America. He also authored technical bulletins and articles related to his field of study. He was a contributor to a number of scientific publications, as well as religious and secular periodicals. He was one of the early proponents of the Dallas Museum of Natural History and he helped establish SMU’s first two science libraries.

In 1945, Dr. Shuler’s book, Rocks and Rivers, was published. In this volume, Shuler explored the geology of the United States through description, photographs, and diagrams. Other significant works of his include a survey of the geology of Dallas County and many essays on a wide variety of subjects ranging from geology to the history of Southwest Virginia.

Sources:

Dean Shuler of SMU Dies at Age of 72. Dallas Morning News , Jan. 2, 1954, Page 1, Part I.

Foscue, Edwin J. Memorial to Ellis William Shuler (1881-1954). Proceedings Volume of the Geological Society of America Annual Report for 1954 (1955): 133-136.

Plaque in Memory. Dallas Morning News , May 24, 1962, Page 2, Section 4.

SMU News Digest. Dec. 1953/Jan. 1954.

Thomas, Mary Martha Hosford. Southern Methodist University: Founding and Early Years. Dallas: SMU Press, 1974.

From the guide to the Ellis W. Shuler papers SMU 2005. 0357., 1900-1955, (Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)