Alumni Updates
Class of 1970
- 1979
(date) = added since last newsletter
James (Jed) Day (BS Geology 1979)
I am currently a professor of Geology at Illinois State University teaching Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Invertebrate Paleontology, and Earth History. I am staying busy working on Devonian rocks in a number of western and central North American basins. Most of my work has and continues to focus on Middle and Upper Devonian brachiopod and conodont biostratigraphy, brachiopod systematics, Devonian sea level event history, and more recently paleoclimatology using stable isotopic and paleomagnetic proxies. After completing my B.S. in Geology at OSU, I headed to Northern Arizona University and completed an MS in Geology at Northern Arizona University, then went to the University of Iowa to do the Ph.D. finishing in 1988. I currently have three kids Jamie (14), Patrick (11) and Molly (8) and wife Kathy (age to remain unknown). Keeping busy writing papers and canoeing local rivers when they are not flooding. (2008)
Stan Fisher (BS Geology 1975)
Lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Calif., and currently has software contracts with Northrop Grumman and Filemaker. In his spare time he develops webbased
applications for small businesses. His wife Ginger keeps busy teaching violin and is
the secretary of a San Jose community orchestra. His oldest son graduated in June with a degree in Neuroscience from UC San Diego. He also has a son who is a junior at UC Berkeley, a daughter at West Valley College in Saratoga, and a son who is a sophomore at Scotts Valley High School. He purchased a house on Oahu, Hawaii, along with some 1-acre lots on Hawaii’s Big Island, and has an idea about
building houses in Hawaii if he gets tired of software consulting. stan@jobhub.com. (2005)
William B. (Bill) Hanson (BS Geol 1971, PhD Geol 1976)
Bill and his family constructed their home in the Upper Nehalem River Basin.
They moved into the house during late December 2003, just in time for the big snowstorms of January 2004. They operate a small woodland and find time to relax while the trees grow. In addition Bill will continue to conduct some work in the energy business. alpinehi@aol.com. (2005)
Tom Henricksen (PhD Geology 1974)
Continues to work as a consulting geologist in South America— principally Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina— jungle work, high altitude work, living through the recent Bolivian revolution— no end to problems! Has been involved during the past 3 years in the discovery and development of two porphyry copper deposits,
a borate deposit, and a silver deposit. Not bad for an old Beaver, but with early guidance from Cy Field, it probably should be expected. Tom’s first wife Christine passed away 5 years ago. His Peruvian wife Yony and her two kids are planning to move to the United States in January 2006. His three boys are in various stages—his oldest son Wynn is a stockbroker in Chicago, married with a young daughter and another child on the way. His second son Wes is finishing law school at the University of Washington, married to an Argentine lady, and will be working in San Diego starting in May 2006. His third son Wade is finishing his
Associate Degree in computer science at Spokane Community College and will be attending a four-year college next year. tomhenricksen@hotmail.com. (2005)
Randall Hledik (BS Geography 1973)
Managing land resources for Wildish Sand & Gravel Co. in Eugene since 1979. He is about ready to retire from the Army Reserve after 30 years of service. (2002)
David Klanderman (MS Geology 1977)
Boucot was my advisor. J. Johnson and Niem were on my committee. Left OSU to
go to West Virginia University to work on a Devonian Gas Shales project
operated by DOE and on PhD. The high point of my time there was working on
computer models of Cambrian trilobite community assemblages around the North
American craton (crashed the entire state computer network running
four-dimension graphic representations) and geochemical concretionary
stratigraphy in the Devonian sequence. Left prematurely when Carter
cancelled the project. Returned to Arizona for a follow-up eight years of
university in studio ceramics, history/applied history, anthropology,
folklore, oriental studies, art history, and medieval literature.
Became an employed member of society with an exhibits job at the Arizona
State Museum, working on projects ranging from prehistoric smoking
paraphernalia to historic architecture at the University of Arizona.
Interviewed for a job at an inter-museum volleyball game in 1988 and started
work at Pima Air and Space Museum soon after, leaving the world of geology
once and for all. Have created approximately 200 interpretive exhibits in 16
1/2 years spent as Curator of Exhibits. Themes have ranged from the physics
of bomb trajectories; aerodynamics; cultural and social history; Arizona's
role in the Manhattan Project; "Buck Rogers: Fantasy Meets Reality;" "Mighty
Mars: How Humans Perceive Their Planetary Neighbor;" and most notable (to
some), a series of geology exhibits on the Defense National Stockpile in the
aerospace industry; "When Rocks Fly," the identification and history of the
minerals used to build an SR-71 Blackbird spyplane; the materials technology
of aerospace engineering; and most recently, under a NASA grant, "Imagining
Mars: Water, Life, and the Geology of the Red Planet," an exhibit consisting
of 3500 sqare feet of gallery filled with rocks, geological maps, and even
an 11th edition copy of Lyell's Principles of Geology.
I am also a mixed media and ceramic sculptor, photographer, and am now
becoming involved in digital imagery with an HP scanner and a bunch of
friends willing to act as guinea pigs. Too much time has passed to feel that
I could ever be a geologist again, so, having once made contact, I doubt you
will ever hear from me again. (2004)
Al McGreehan (MS Geography 1974)
In 2001, completed his 27th year of local government public service employed as either a planner or community development professional. Al is contemplating a possible retirement and commencement of a geography-teaching career. (2002)
Randy McKinley (MS Geography 1979)
Geographer, employed by the U.S. Geological Survey. From his offsite office in Sheridan, Wyoming, Randy provides remote sensing support to USGS EROS located in Sioux Falls, SD. His current duties include mapping wildfires in support of Department of Interior Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams, using remote sensing and GIS technologies to monitor post wildfire rehabilitation and recovery, and other technical and project management activities. (2008). Randy has two daughters, Sheridan (12) and Kaylin (10), that keep him very busy when he's not riding horses and packing mules in the Cloud Peak Wilderness, fly fishing the Bighorn River, or working on home/barn improvement projects. rmckinley@usgs.gov (2008)
John Moran (BS Geology 1968, MS Geology 1971)
Living in Bakersfield, Calif., since 2001 and currently working with Denny Tower (BS Geol 1969, MS Geol 1972) to fund a new oil and gas exploration company there. John spent the middle part of his career working for Apache Corp in Tulsa, Okla. When he was promoted to VP of Exploration, he moved to Houston for 10 years. He managed an exploration effort primarily on the Gulf Coast. While there,
Jim Peters (BS Geol 1968, MS 1971) got him interested in California, and he added California to the exploration of his company. They thought to bring the
new 3-D seismic exploration tool to an old basin (the San Joaquin) and to use it to explore for oil and gas. John has been responsible for acquiring over 500 square miles of 3-D seismic since that time, and drilling is just starting on most of this work. He is married to Sherry Shelton, who got a business education degree at OSU in 1971. They have two daughters who are nurses in Cascade, Ida., and
Ft Worth, Tex. He looks back on his OSU days with fondness, especially the days in geology graduate school. JMoran@aol.com. (2005)
Duane Nellis (MS Geography 1978; PhD Geography 1980)
Dean of Arts and Sciences as well as Professor of Geography at West Virginia University. Duane is finishing his appointment as Past President of the Association of American Geographers. He will assume the Provost position at Kansas State University July 1, 2004. For more info... (2004)
William Nesmith (BS Geography 1974)
Administrator of the Conservation Division of the Oregon Office of Energy (OOE). William’s job responsibilities include management of several energy efficiency and renewable resource programs offered by the State of Oregon. He has been with OOE since 1985. He supervises a staff of about 30 with a biennial budget of $10 million. (2002)
Dennis Pack (BS Geology 1970)
Director of Studies at Seymour College in Adelaide, South Australia, a day and
boarding school for girls from all over the world. Received a teaching certificate
from OSU in 1971, and since has taught from Oregon to Australia to Paraguay to back to Australia again. His role at Seymour involves constructing the college timetable, course counseling, liaising with the state governing body, organizing
vocational education opportunities, taking care of student teachers, and being a
member of the College Leadership Team. He also looks after students enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme, a worldwide program that awards people between 13 and 25 for various activities. He just finished revamping the geography curriculum for the state. He has been involved in anything outdoors and has extensive experience in bushwalking, kayaking, rock climbing, and snow skiing (yes, Australia has snow!). One of his most rewarding activities was cycling around parts of Tasmania and the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. In 2006 he plans to return to central Oregon to get to know his grandchildren, introduce locals to
some of the cultures he has encountered, fish in the freshwater lakes of the Northwest, and support the Beavers sporting teams. packd@ optusnet.com.au. (2005)
F. Donald Parsons (BS Geography 1971)
Enjoying retirement and highly recommends it. He is still keeping busy with eight grandkids, and volunteer work. (2002)
Patricia Rogers (BS Geography 1979)
Manager of the Transportation Enhancement program for Oregon Department of Transportation. Patricia works with cities, counties, and other agencies throughout Oregon to select and provide funds for sidewalks, bike paths, historical preservation, and landscaping projects. (2002)
Alexander Schriener, Jr. (MS Geology 1978)
In March of 2009 accepted a position as Director of Geothermal Resources for CalEnergy Operating Corporation, Calipatria, Calif. This is similar to a position held with the same firm from 1996-2001. It involves directing drilling, geology, reservoir engineering, geochemistry and geophysics for the 360 megawatt Salton Sea geothermal field; the largest liquid-dominated geothermal field in the US. The field is currently permitting a 195 gross megawatt expansion, so life is very busy. His wife Margie teaches twenty 3-year-olds at a preschool. Alex and Margie still live in Bermuda Dunes, Calif. Alex (27) and his wife Karina are proud parents of 2 ½ year old son and a 3 month old daughter. They live about 1 mile from us, so we are grandparents almost every weekend. Alex is still working to get accreditation to be a high school English teacher. Timothy (25) is a Research Assistant and a PhD student at the University of New Mexico in Nuclear Engineering. His research involves simulation modeling of new reactor designs. He graduated from OSU in 2006 with a BS degree in Nuclear Engineering. alexander.schriener@calenergy.com. (2009)
Amy Sikkema (BS Geology 1976)
Moved to Holland in the end of January with her husband Wytse. (2004)
Dr. Harold Greg Smith (BS 1976, PhD Geography 1982)
Chief scientist for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in Bethesda, Maryland. He is also a lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park Geography Department. (2002)
Gary Stedman (MS Geography 1976)
Master planner and land use planner with the Directorate of Public Works in Fort Lewis, Washington. Gary worked nearly 14 years in the Environmental and Natural Resources Management for the army, and now has worked 5 + years at Fort Lewis. (2002)
Patrick M. Tolson (MS Geology 1976)
Changed companies from Marathon Oil Company to Dominion to keep from moving to Houston. Patrick’s title changed a little with the move, but he is still working the deep Anadarko Basin in Southwestern Oklahoma. (2004)
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last updated 08/20/09/sds
