The American Geological Institute  honored Priscilla C. Grew, professor of geosciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with its most prestigious award, the Ian Campbell Medal, on Oct. 26 during the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. Grew is the 18th recipient and is the first woman to receive the medal. Previous recipients have included three directors of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Grew received the award Oct. 25 at the Geological Society of America Awards Ceremony in Denver. The institute presents the medal "in recognition of singular performance in and contribution to the profession of geology."  The institute honored Grew "for her leadership in the geosciences promoting awareness of the contributions of geosciences research to society."

After graduating magna cum laude in geology from Bryn Mawr College in 1962, Grew earned her doctorate in geology at the University of California at Berkeley (1967) and went on to a wide-ranging career as a geoscientist both in higher education and with government agencies.

She served on the faculty at Boston College from 1967 to 1972 and at UCLA from 1972 to 1977, including a year as a visiting assistant professor at the University of California at Davis (1973-74). From 1977 to 1986, she worked for the state of California, first as director of the Department of Conservation, then as commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission. During that time, she also served as chair of the California Mining and Geology Board (1976-77) and the California Geothermal Resources Board (1977-81).

In 1986 Grew became state geologist of Minnesota, the second woman in the U.S. to serve as a state geologist. She held concurrent appointments as director of the Minnesota Geological Survey and professor in the department of geology and geophysics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993 as vice chancellor for research and professor in the department of geosciences. She stepped down from the former position earlier this year. Since 1998, she has also served as the university's Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act compliance coordinator.

Since 1989 Grew has served as a member of the advisory board for the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, and the Mineralogical Society of America.