Walter Curran Mendenhall
Walter Curran Mendenhall (born February 20, 1871 in Marlboro , Ohio , † June 2, 1957 in Chevy Chase , Maryland ) was an American geologist and the fifth director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Life
Mendenhall studied at Ohio Normal University and was from 1894 at the USGS. There he initially dealt with the recording of the coal deposits in the Appalachian Mountains and was one of the early geologists of the Survey in Alaska from 1898. He dealt with hydrogeology and was a member and chief geologist of the Land Classification Board and its director in 1911/12.
In 1930 he was appointed director of the USGS, which he remained until 1943. He led the USGS through the difficult years of the Depression with funding from the New Deal (Tennessee Valley Authority).
In 1936 he was President of the Geological Society of America . He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences . In 1944 he received the Penrose gold medal . The Mendenhall Peak in Antarctica is named after him.
He had been married since 1876 and had two daughters.
literature
- Thomas Nolan, Biographical Memoirs National Academy, 1975, PDF (808 kB; English)
Web links
Clarence King (1879-1881) | John W. Powell (1881-1894) | Charles D. Walcott (1894-1907) | George O. Smith (1907-1930) | Walter C. Mendenhall (1930–1943) | William E. Wrather (1943-1956) | Thomas B. Nolan (1956-1965) | William T. Pecora (1965-1971) | Vincent E. McKelvey (1971-1978) | H. William Menard (1978-1981) | Dallas L. Peck (1981-1993) | Gordon P. Eaton (1994-1997) | Charles G. Groat (1998-2005) | Mark D. Myers (2006-2009) | Marcia McNutt (2009-2013) | Suzette Kimball (2015-2017) | James F. Reilly (since 2018)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mendenhall, Walter Curran |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American geologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Marlboro , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 2, 1957 |
| Place of death | Chevy Chase , Maryland |