ALEXANDRIA, VA — The American Geological Institute (AGI) will present its most prestigious award, the Ian Campbell Medal, to geologist Frank Harold Trevor Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University and a world-renowned geoscientist and advocate for education and research. He will receive the award during the Geological Society of America (GSA) Presidential Awards Ceremony in Denver on Sunday, October 27, 2002.

    Rhodes served as the ninth President of Cornell University. During his 18-year tenure, research funding at the university tripled; new initiatives in supercomputing, biotechnology, and other studies were initiated; and the number of women and minorities on the faculty doubled. He continues at Cornell as President Emeritus and as a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geological Sciences. “Frank has inspired many students to choose a career in the geosciences because of his enthusiasm and knowledge,” says Norbert Cygan, his citationist. “But his advice and counsel to governments, academic institutions, charitable foundations, and corporations have enriched the worldwide science community at large in countless ways.”

    Born and raised in Warwickshire, England, Rhodes, a paleontologist, earned three degrees from the University of Birmingham. A former Fulbright Scholar at the University of Illinois, Rhodes held several academic and administrative positions before being elected President of Cornell, including professor of geology; Dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts; and then Vice-President of Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan.

    Rhodes has published widely in the fields of geology, paleontology, evolution, education, and the history of science. Among his publications are Fossils: An Introduction to Pre-Historic Life and The Creation of the Future: The Role of the American University. He was the senior author of the monograph on undergraduate education published by the AGI in 1971. Rhodes has also been author, consultant, and participant in several educational radio and television programs, including the BBC television series, “The Planet Earth,” and the BBC radio series, “Science, Philosophy and Religion.”

    Throughout the years, governmental boards and committees have looked to Rhodes his expertise and advice. Rhodes was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Science Board, of which he is a former chair, and by President George H.W. Bush to the President’s Educational Policy Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s advisory research committee and also served as the chair of the American Council on Education, the American Association of Universities, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

    Rhodes is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Bigsby Medal of the Geological Society and the Clark Kerr Medal of the University of California, Berkeley Faculty Senate, and holds honorary degrees from more than 30 institutions in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society (of which he is currently president), a senior visiting research fellow of the National Science Foundation, a visiting fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. He is a member of many professional societies, including the Geological Society of America, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, the Paleontological Society, the Palaeontological Association and the Palaeontographical Society. He was chairman of the International Conodont Symposium in 1970.

    The AGI Medal in memory of Ian Campbell, President of the Institute in 1961, is awarded to a person who exemplifies the accomplishments and widespread influence of that remarkable geoscientist.

    The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 40 geoscientific and professional associations that represent more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in our profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in mankind's use of resources and interaction with the environment. More information about AGI can be found at http://www.agiweb.org/. The Institute also provides a public-outreach web site, http://www.earthscienceworld.org/.
 

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