People | Faculty
 |
George
H. Davis
Regents Professor, Structural Geology |
I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My father, David H. Davis,
was a mining engineer who became President of the Mountaineer Division
of Consolidation Coal Company. My mother, Ruth Lamborn Davis, was a
nurse, mother of three boys, and housewife. RLD is 94 and living in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
I was a graduate of Upper St. Clair High School
(Pittsburgh) and went on to attend The College of Wooster (Ohio),
graduating in geology. I
married another Wooster graduate, Merrily Siepert. I received a MA
degree in structural geology/tectonics from The University of Texas
at Austin, and a Ph.D. in economic geology from the University of Michigan.
Merrily and I have three sons: Michael, an educator, Matthew, a pastor,
and Andrew, an attorney. We brag on our five grandchildren.
My professional career has been, almost exclusively, at The University
of Arizona (Tucson), where I began as Assistant Professor in the Department
of Geosciences, rising through the ranks to Full Professor, and then
chosen as a Regents Professor. My primary scientific interest has been
field-oriented structural geology, with
applications in regional tectonics and active tectonics.
I have
published extensively on the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau
tectonic provinces and structures (recent
pubs), and I have brought my passion for structural geology
into the classroom, into the research advising of undergraduate
and graduate students (students served),
into textbook writing, and into research seminars. My current
research is in Greece, where I am a team leader on the Mt. Lykaion
(Zeus) Sanctuary and Excavation Site in the Peloponnesus. My
role is to interpret the geologic history of the site, including
active tectonics, in specific relationship to the archaeology
of Lykaion.
The geoarchaeological work in Greece is getting more and more
interesting. See The New York Times article An
Altar Beyond Olympus for a Deity Predating Zeus.
I began my career at the University of Arizona as an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Geosciences, becoming Full Professor,
and then Regents Professor. I served as Chair of the Department
of Geosciences, a department now regarded as one of the top
geo-programs in the world. Both in graduate school and as an
assistant professor, I was inspired by academic geologists
who became college and university
leaders, and this has influenced my broadening range of
university work. At the University of Arizona, I have served
as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Executive on Loan to
the Board of Regents, and Interim Vice President for Business
Affairs. I then left The University of Arizona to serve
The University of Vermont as its President, returning to the
University of Arizona to carry out research and teaching, and
then to serve as Executive Vice President and Provost.
My outside interests are broad ranging. I
enjoy reading and traveling widely, with particular attention
to arts and humanities, and I spend serious time in pursuit
of my interests in photography and playing chromatic harmonica.
Currently I am on sabbatical leave at The University of Arizona,
following seven years of administrative leadership as Executive
Vice President and Provost. I return to the Department of Geosciences
in January, 2008, where I will teach Active
Tectonics as well as lead a regional
field trip examining active tectonic phenomena along the
Wasatch Front, from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. In the summer
of 2008, I will return to Greece to continue geological mapping,
looking particularly closely at active faults that may have contributed
to the ‘power’ of the Zeus sanctuary.
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Navajo Sandstone backdrop along the Kaibab
uplift, Southern Utah
Bringing up the salmon with Bach |
Contact Information
Office: Gould-Simpson Bldg.
326
Phone: 520-626-7795
Fax: 520-621-2672
E-mail: gdavis@u.arizona.edu
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