Herbert E. Gregory

Not to be confused with Herbert B. Gregory.
Herbert Ernest Gregory
BornOctober 15, 1869
Middleville, Michigan
DiedJanuary 23, 1952(1952-01-23) (aged 82)
Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Education
OccupationGeologist

Herbert Ernest Gregory (October 15, 1869 – January 23, 1952)[1] was a Yale University geologist well known for his early 20th-century explorations of the Colorado Plateau in Arizona and Utah. One of his most important works is Colorado Plateau Region, published by the United States Geological Survey on the occasion of the United States sponsoring the 16th International Geological Congress.[2]

Gregory was born October 15, 1869, in Middleville, Michigan, to George A. Gregory and Jane Bross.[1] He grew up in Crete, Nebraska, and attended the Gates Academy.[3] In 1890, he received his B.S. at Gates College located in Neligh, Nebraska.[3] Gregory worked as a civil engineer for Boston & Maine Railroad from 1890 to 1891 before becoming an instructor at Chadron Academy from 1891 to 1893. He then taught at Gates College from 1893–1895 and graduated with an A.B. from Yale University in 1896.[3] He was a student at Harvard University under American geographer William Morris Davis.[citation needed] He was the director of the geology department at Yale University, where he worked to expand the department to include a human geography emphasis. Gregory was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1917 and the American Philosophical Society in 1923.[4][5] From 1919 to 1936 he served as director of the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, where, in 1961, after his death, he was honored by a medal named after him. The Herbert E. Gregory Medal is awarded every four years by the Pacific Science Association to a leading scientist in the Pacific Region.[6]

His seminal work included mapping much of the bedrock geology of the Colorado Plateau, particularly in geologic monographs concentrating on what is now the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah. Among many other achievements, he was the first to name and describe the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, which is famous for preserving extensive fossil evidence of Late Triassic terrestrial ecosystems, including fossilized logs.

In 1931, Gregory published the first geologic map of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.[7] Gregory stated that no fossils had been discovered; however, many were later found.[7]

Gregory died January 23, 1952, in Honolulu in the then Territory of Hawaii.

  1. ^ a b Guide to the Herbert E. Gregory photograph collection 1900–1944
  2. ^ Martin, Geoffrey J. (1983). "Geography, Geographers and Yale University, c. 1770-1970" (PDF). Geography in New England Special Publication of the New England/St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society: 2–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Chamberlain, Joshua L.; Wingate, Charles E. L.; Williams, Jesse Lynch; Lee, Albert; Paine, Henry G., eds. (1899). Universities and their Sons. Vol. III. Introduction by William Torrey Harris. R. Herndon Company. p. 237.
  4. ^ "Herbert Ernest Gregory". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  5. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  6. ^ "2011 Herbert E. Gregory Medal". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  7. ^ a b Stokstad, Erik (October 5, 2001). "Utah's Fossil Trove Beckons, And Tests, Researchers". Science. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2012.