Childhood: Dayton, Ohio; U.S. Forest Service summer employee, Yellowstone National Park; B.S. geology, 1946 to 1950, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut; Ph.D. geological sciences and geophysics, 1957, California Institute of Technology, Los Angeles basin Miocene volcanic history research, geological sciences emergence; faculty member Wesleyan University; faculty member University of Cali fornia Irvine; provost Texas A & M University; president Iowa State University, National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations; Ph.D. level research increase and funding limitations; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory [LDEO] director, 1991 to 1994: past directorships, social environment, public relations, fund-raising, biological sciences integration, Titanic wreckage exploration equipment, name change, Columbia University administration; U.S. Geological Survey director, 1994 to present; colleague reminiscences.