I was sad to learn today of the passing of my first geology professor, and the man who got me interested in structural geology. Starting in 1963, Bruce Goodwin taught for many years at William and Mary, and in the fall of 1992, his Physical Geology class was literally the first course (8am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) I took in college. Though I started out planning to major in biology, this course triggered an interest in other aspects of the natural sciences, which eventually led me to geology as a full time passion. Dr. Goodwin's style of teaching struck me as highly effective, and I still use some of his analogies (and jokes!) in my teaching today. His upper-level structural geology class capped off my undergraduate experience, and planted an interest that would eventually (many years later, in 2002) lead me to graduate studies in structure at the University of Maryland. Dr. Goodwin retired from teaching the same year that I graduated from the William and Mary geology department, 1996. I'm sad to think of him having passed from our world, and I wish his family the best. Here was a man who made lasting contributions to Virginia geology, and inspired 33 years of William and Mary geology majors.

Dr. Goodwin's obituary in the Daily Press.

Labels: geologists, virginia