In Memoriam

Honoring ESS community members from the last four years

This page is in memory of our departed friends and colleagues who served the Department of Earth and Space Sciences. It is our hope that these memorials will serve as fitting tributes so we can continue honoring their contribution and legacy within the ESS community.

If there is an ESS community member you know of who has passed and is not included on this list, please get in touch with us so we can include them.

Estella Leopold

Adjunct Professor

24 YEARS AT ESS

A palynologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, Estella Leopold came to UW after a distinguished career in the USGS, at first to direct the Quaternary Research Center. She was a dedicated environmentalist and, among many contributions, was key to establishing the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Gary A. Maykut

Research Professor Emeritus

53 YEARS AT ESS

Gary Maykut was a pioneering specialist on the physics of sea ice. In the 1970s he helped develop the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment and established the Polar Science Center at UW. His work has had major implications for Arctic climate models and for predicting changes in sea ice.

Evan Abramson

Research Associate Professor

32 YEARS AT ESS

An experimental chemist and mineral physicist, Evan Abramson was an eclectic scientist with strong technical and theoretical skills. His work contributed to the behavior of various materials under high pressure, ranging from the viscosity of water and elasticity of minerals to the chemistry of geo fluids in subduction zones.

Joseph Vance

Associate Professor Emeritus

33 YEARS AT ESS

An igneous petrologist and pioneering fission-track chronologist, Joe Vance was a lifetime member of the geology program at UW, where his work focused primarily on Cascades geologic history. Joe was an avid field geologist, runner, climber and traveler. His philanthropy has long supported our department’s students, especially those doing field work.

Jim (J. Dungan) Smith

(Former) Professor

23 YEARS AT ESS

A physical sedimentologist who worked in both marine and non-marine systems, Jim Smith won the Hans Albert Einstein Award of the ASCE. His teaching and supervising students in sediment transport problems have had a major impact in the field; that work continued after he left UW for the USGS in 1991.

B. Charlotte Schreiber

Affiliate Professor

14 YEARS AT ESS

A sedimentary geologist focused on carbonates and evaporites, Charlotte Schreiber was awarded the Sorby Medal of the International Association of Sedimentologists. Her work on Messinian evaporites, especially in Sicily, is world renowned. Retiring to UW in 2006, she continued to teach, advise and conduct research.

Robert Winglee

Professor

29 YEARS AT ESS

A space physicist, Robert Winglee’s career spanned research in space plasma physics, magnetospheric physics, advanced propulsion and engineering. He taught rocket science and initiated educational outreach to underserved and underrepresented communities. Robert engaged students in many field endeavors, from rocket launches to outback geology.

Minze Stuiver

Professor

29 YEARS AT ESS

A pioneering isotope geochemist, Minze Stuiver received the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America for his work developing a precisely calibrated radiocarbon time scale. Over his career, Minze measured isotopes in ocean water, ice cores, the atmosphere and various sedimentary materials as applied to fields ranging from Earth and solar history to ocean circulation and climate change.

John Rensberger

Professor

38 YEARS AT ESS

A vertebrate paleontologist based at UW’s Burke Museum, John Rensberger’s primary research was on the structure and function of fossil mammal teeth.

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