William J. Hinze
began his earth-science career at the University of Wisconsin, where
in 1951 he received a bachelor of science in geology. From 1954 to 1955
he served in the US. Army Corps of Engineers at their Research and Development
Laboratory, after which he returned to the University of Wisconsin,
receiving his doctorate in geology and physics in 1957. From 1956 to
1958 he worked as a staff geophysicist for Jones & Laughlin Steel
Company. In 1958 he joined the faculty of the department of geology
at Michigan State University, where he held appointments of assistant
to full professor. In 1972 he took his present post as pmfessor of geophysics
in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University.
In 1985 he served as a visiting professor at the University of Lausanne
in Switzerland.
In the course of his career Hinze has made many significant and lasting
contributions to potential-field geophysics. In addition to numerous
abstracts and technical reports, he averages several formal papers per
year, either as chief author or as co-author - truly remarkable record
if his formidable professional duties are considered. For instance,
from 1975 to 1982 he was chairman of the US. National Magnetic Anomaly
Map Committee, and from 1985 to 1989 he co-chaired the North American
Magnetic Anomaly Map Committee. He edited The Utility of Regional Gravity
and Magnetic Anomaly Maps, which was published by the Society of Exploration
Geophysicists in 1985. From 1986 to 1988 he co-chaired the US. National
Science Foundation's joint U.S./Indian workshop "Regional Geophysical
Lineaments: Their Tectonic and Economic Significance" and co-edited
the workshop volume, which was published by the Geological Society of
India in 1989. Since 1985 he has dealt with problems concerning the
distribution and archiving of geophysical data for the worldwide scientific
community and, related to this task, has served in various posts with
the U.S. Geodynamics Committee, the International Lithospheric Commission,
and the National Academy of Science/National Research Council. From
1988 to the present he has served as a consultant to and member of the
Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
He has served from 1986 both as a member and vice-chairman of the board
of directors of Deep Observation and Sampling of the Earth's Continental
Crust, Inc. (DOSECC), and as a co-chairman of the Potential Fields Committee
of the Great Lakes International Program on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE).
He has been a member of the US. Geodynamics Committee of the National
Academy of Science/National Research Council since 1989.
During his long and successful career Hinze has been at the forefront
of geophysical research in the Lake Superior region and the surrounding
Midcontinent. His doctoral research, a gravity investigation of the
Bamboo Syncline region, which was published in the Journal of Geology
in 1959, was one of the most innovative gravity studies of its time.
His 1960 Economic Geology paper on the gravity method in iron-ore exploration,
which was largely based on his experiences with Jones & Laughlin
Steel Company, became a classic work among explorationists; a slightly
revised version reappeared in 1966 in the Society of Exploration Geophysicists'
volumes on mining geophysics. During the 1960s Hinze was the principal
investigator of several major aeromagnetic and gravity studies of the
western Great Lakes, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Michigan
Basin. The aeromagnetic studies over Lake Superior complemented the
seismic investigations of the Lake Superior Experiment, and in 1966
the results were published with the seismic studies in the frequently
cited The Earth Beneath the Continents (American Geophysical Union Geophysical
Monograph 10). In 1982 R.J. Wold and he co-edited Geology and Tectonics
of the Lake Superior Basin (Geological Society of America Memoir 156),
which remains today the definitive reference on Lake Superior geology
and geophysics. In recognition of his contributions to Midcontinent
geology, he was awarded an honorary membership in the Michigan Basin
Geological Society in 1986.
Today Hinze maintains his high profile in geophysical studies of the
Lake Superior region. Since the mid-1970s he has been a leading investigator
of Midcontinent seismicity and its probable relationship to basement
structure. Through his involvement with DOSECC and other agencies, be
has been a leading proponent of deep scientific drilling in the Lake
Superior region. He and his students are presently conducting combined
studies of seismic-reflection, gravity, and magnetic data to investigate
crustal structure beneath Lake Superior, a task that epitomizes the
strong generalist approach that characterizes his career.
Perhaps Bill Hinze's greatest legacy is his students. Through organizational
skills that are unsurpassed and an enthusiasm for his work that is contagious,
he has inspired many to learn and achieve far beyond what they thought
they were capable. The careers of many successful geophysicists worldwide
proudly bear his imprint. His is truly a career that has made a difference.
VAL W. CHANDLER Minnesota Geological Survey
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