ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- The American Geological Institute (AGI) will induct Susan M. Landon as president for 1998 during its reception and awards ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), an affiliated member society of the Institute. The reception will be held from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Arizona Room of the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Landon will begin a one-year term of office.

The 1998 Executive Committee that Landon will lead includes President-Elect David A. Stephenson, President, South Pass Resources, Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz.; Secretary M. Charles Gilbert, School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman; Treasurer William A. Thomas, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington; Member-at-Large Suzanne O'Connell, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.; Member-at-Large Steven M. Stanley, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Past President Edward C. Roy Jr., Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Geology, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas; and AGI Foundation Chairman Thomas M. Hamilton, Chairman and CEO, ENSERCH Exploration, Inc., Dallas, Texas. Executive Director Marcus E. Milling serves ex officio on the Executive Committee.

Landon, an independent petroleum geologist with Thomasson Partner Associates in Denver, is actively involved in petroleum exploration and production in the United States. Her career in the petroleum industry began in Denver with Amoco Production Company in 1974. Early experience included exploration throughout the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and the Midcontinent. In 1987, she was transferred to Houston as Exploration Training Manager for Amoco. Her career as a consultant and independent petroleum geologist began in 1990 when she returned to Denver.

Landon also lectures at colleges and universities worldwide. She visits K-12 classes and is dedicated to providing a role model for young women interested in science. In May 1997, she led the American Geological Institute's team of judges at the International Science and Engineering Fair, presenting awards to nine high-school science students who were selected from more than 1,000 entrants. One of Landon's primary research interests has been the evolution and petroleum potential of the Precambrian Midcontinent Rift System in the north-central United States. She has published or presented several papers relating to exploration, and was editor of Interior Rift Basins, published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

She is currently serving a second term on the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Research Council and was appointed to the National Cooperative Mapping Advisory Committee by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt in 1996. Governor Romer of Colorado also appointed her to serve on the Advisory Committee of the Colorado Geological Survey. She has been active in several professional organizations, serving as president of the American Institute of Professional Geologists in 1990 and treasurer of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. In 1995, AAPG presented her with a Distinguished Service Award.

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