 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (February 2024) |
Katherine Greacen Nelson | |
|---|---|
 Katherine Greacen Nelson | |
| Born | December 9, 1913 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 1982 (aged 69) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Rutgers University |
| Spouse | Frank Hurbert Nelson |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Petroleum geology, invertebrate paleontology |
Katherine Greacen Nelson (December 9, 1913 – December 29, 1982), born in Sierra Madre, California, was an American geologist. She was one of the first women to receive a degree in geology, obtaining a PhD from Rutgers University. Growing up in a military family exposed to nature and traveling at an early age, Nelson showed an eagerness for geology by devoting her days to learning the various geological processes that encompass the earth, eventually winning a prize for an excellence in geology from Vassar College.[citation needed]
She was later hired by Milwaukee-Downer College as part of college's expanding geological and geographical sciences department eventually leaving her position in 1943 to help as a petroleum geologist as part of the war effort. Nelson went on to give many lectures that helped inspire students of all genders towards the field of geography and geology. She died in December 1982 at the age of 69 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after a long battle with cancer. Nelson is survived by her husband, Attorney Frank Hubert Nelson, her brother Robert A. Greacen, and thousands of loving friends and former students all over the world.