Outstanding Alumni - 1998
Dr. Robert Thorson
Bemidji State University Graduate 1973
Robert M. Thorson (1973) graduated from Bemidji State University Summa Cum Laude in Earth Science Teaching and has never looked back! He went on to receive his M.S. in Geology in 1975 from the University of Alaska and then his Ph.D. in Geology in 1979 from the University of Washington. Between 1980 and 1986 he was at the University of Alaska and served as Asst. Professor of Geology and Geophysics; Head, Surficial Geology, Earth Sciences Division; Director of the Alaska Tephrochrononloy Center; Director of the Alaska Quaternary Center, Research Affiliate in Surficial Geology at the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1987 Thorson moved on to the University of Connecticut where he began as an Associate Professor until 1996 when he became a full Professor in Geology and Geophysics. From 1987 - 1992 Thorson served as Vice Chairman and member of the Radioactive Waste (Low Level) Advisory Board, Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management Service. Between 1989 and 1990 he served as Chairman of the Geological Society of America, Archaeological Geology Division and in 1990 he was a visiting faculty fellow at Yale University/Mellon Foundation in the Department of History. From 1991 - 1992 he was a visiting scholar in Geography at Dartmouth College. Thorson has been invited to speak at many national conferences and symposiums, he has authored two books (Isostatic Effects of the Last Glaciation in the Puget Lowland Washington and Glaciation in Alaska: Extended Abstracts from a Workshop) and co-authored another (Glaciation in Alaska: The Geologic Record) and authored chapters in eight other books. Additionally, he has had almost 29 articles published and has been invited to review numerous articles and books. Thorson has written and received 18 research grants totaling almost $473,000 for research programs that involve earthquake hazards research in Seattle, coastal processes on the Atlantic and wetland protection in freshwater sanctuaries. Thorson recently was funded for a Fulbright Award to carry out natural hazards research in Chile.