Initial Publication Date: December 12, 2013

Stimulation of Interest in the Earth Sciences: Neil Miner Award

Neil Alden Miner, 1898-1947

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Neil Alden Miner: September 9, 1898 - September 16, 1947

(Compiled by Robert Ridky of the USGS.)

To a person, Neil Alden Miner was remembered fondly for his devotion to his career, his family and friends, and his students.

Born at Saranac Lake, NY, Miner became an avid student of the outdoors at the knee of his taxidermist father. He began his studies at Syracuse University in 1917, where his association with Dr. Charles H. Richardson, Head of the Department of Mineralogy, led to a summer of field work with the Vermont Geological Survey and a lifetime commitment to geology.

Although family circumstances did not allow him to complete his bachelor's degree until 1932, he earned his master's at Syracuse in 1934 and his Ph.D. at the State University of Iowa in 1937. While doing field work for his dissertation on Pleistocene glaciation in areas of Yellowstone National Park, Miner worked as a ranger-naturalist. His unusually popular campfire talks on the geology and wildlife of Yellowstone were renowned for their clarity, scientific accuracy, and enthusiastic presentation.

Miner began his career as an educator at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1937 as Chair of the Geology Department. His leadership in both college and community educational activities over the next 10 years attested to his strong respect and affection for students and earned him reciprocal respect and affection from the communities he served.

Aside from his contributions to geological science through the professional lives of his students, Miner's most important accomplishments included establishing Camp Norton, a summer geology field camp for students at Cornell College, Knox College, Syracuse University, and Miami University of Ohio in 1940, and organizing the Association of Geology Teachers in 1938, which has evolved into our National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). From a seminal group of five geology teachers interested in getting better acquainted and exchanging teaching ideas, the NAGT has grown into a North American professional organization that fosters understanding of the importance of the earth sciences and encourages excellence in geoscience teaching.

Tragically, leukemia ended Neil Miner's life prematurely in 1947. Officers of the NAGT established the Neil Miner Award in 1952. The prestigious award is given in Miner's memory each year to honor him for his contagious enthusiasm for geology and unselfish dedication to his students and his profession.

The Award

Each year, the NAGT presents the Neil Miner Award to an individual for exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth sciences. The Award, presented each year since 1953, commemorates Neil Miner's concern for personal excellence and effective teaching. His ideals, his notably unselfish outlook on life, and his personal philosophy inspired his fellow teachers as well as his students. The Neil Miner Award is presented annually at the NAGT awards ceremony.

Award Recipients

2023 Award Recipient: Sharon K. Cooper, Columbia University, New York

Past Recipients

Show past recipients

2022 - No award in 2022
2021 - Dr. Lisa White, University of California, Berkeley
2020 - Lori Ziolkowski (Dr. Z), University of South Carolina
2019 - J Brett Bennington, Hofstra University
2018 - Rachel Beane, Bowdoin College, Maine
2017 - Katherine Ellins, The University of Texas at Austin
2016 - Bud Wobus, Williams College
2015 - Bob Butler, University of Portland
2014 - Steve Mattox, Grand Valley State University
2013 - Michael Cummings, Portland State University
2012 - Stephen Marshak, University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign
2011 - Marjorie J. McKinney and the late Dr. F. Kenneth McKinney
2010 - David A. McConnell, North Carolina State University
2009 - Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary, VA
2008 - Yildirim Dilek, Miami University: citation and response from JGE
2007 - Michael Gibson, University of Tennessee-Martin - citation and response from JGE
2006 - William D. Romey, Professor Emeritus, St. Lawrence University
2005 - C.M. Ashbrook, Southwest Virginia Community College, Richlands, VA
2004 - H. Len Vacher, University of South Florida, FL
2003 - Barb J. Tewksbury, Hamilton College, NY
2002 - J.S. Shelton, Pomona College, CA
2001 - J.B. Southard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
2000 - K.B. Bork, Denison University, OH
1999 - Don W. Byerly, University of Tennessee, TN - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1998 - John R. Carpenter, University of South Carolina, SC - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1997 - William W. Craig, University of New Orleans, LA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1996 - Tom J. Freeman, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1995 - Brian J. Skinner, Yale University, CT - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1994 - Thomas E. Hendrix, Grand Valley State University, MI - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1993 - Robert C. Whisonant, Radford University, VA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1992 - Richard C. Anderson, Augustana College, IL - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1991 - William B. Bull, University of Arizona, AZ - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1990 - Sturges W. Bailey, University of Wisconsin, WI - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1989 - Robert L. Folk, University of Texas at Austin, TX - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1988 - Lee J. Suttner, Indiana University, IN - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1987 - Henry H. Woodard, Beloit, College, WI - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1986 - Lowell R. Lawdon, University Wisconsin-Madison, WI - presentation in JGE
1985 - William M. Furnish, University of Iowa, IA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1984 - York T. Mandra, San Francisco State University, CA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1983 - Stephen J. Gould, Harvard University, MA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1982 - Dorothy Echols, Washington University, MO - citation and acceptance in JGE
1981 - Robert M. Norris, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1981 - Roald Fryxell, Washington State University, WA (awarded posthumously) - citation and acceptance in JGE
1980 - Robert E. Boyer, University of Texas, Austin, TX - citation and abstract in JGE
1979 - Judson Mead, Indiana University, IN - citation and response in JGE
1978 - Katherine G. Nelson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
1977 - Raymond C. Gutschick, University of Notre Dame, IN - citation and response in JGE
1976 - James W. Skehan, Boston College, MA
1975 - John Eliot Allen, Portland State University, OR - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1974 - Caleb Wroe Wolfe, Boston University, MA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1973 - Robert Wallace Webb, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1972 - Richard H. Durrell, University of Cincinnati, OH - presentation and acceptance from JGE
1971 - H. Stanton Hill, Pasadena City College, CA - presentation in JGE
1970 - Chalmer J. Roy, Iowa State University of Science & Technology, IA - presentation and acceptance in JGE
1969 - Robert L. Nicols, Tufts College, MA - presentation and response in JGE
1968 - Kurt E. Lowe, City College (CUNY), NY
1967 - Walter D. Keller, University of Missouri, MO
1966 - Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., Harvard University, MA
1965 - Robert H. Heller, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN
1964 - Williams H. Matthews, Lamar State College, TX
1963 - Erling H. Dorf, Princeton University, NJ
1962 - Henry E. Wenden, Ohio State University, OH - citation in the Transactions of the association in JGE
1961 - Percival Robertson, Principia College, IL
1960 - Arthur C. Trowbridge, University of Iowa, IA
1959 - J Harlen Bretz, University of Chicago, IL
1958 - Charles H. Behre, Jr., Columbia University, NY
1957 - George A. Thiel, University of Minnesota, MN
1956 - Armin K. Lobeck, Columbia University, NY
1955 - Alfred Oswald Woodford, Pomona College, CA - biography from JGE
1954 - William H. Shideler, Miami University, OH
1953 - Fritiof M. Fryxell, Augustana College, IL - presentation in JGE

Make a Nomination

Neil Miner in the field

NAGT members may nominate any geoscience educator for this award. The nominator must submit only the following. Please do not include additional materials:

a letter of nomination stating why the nominee is an outstanding geoscience teacher.
up to a maximum of four letters of support no more than two pages in length. At least one letter each should come from a student, a colleague, and an administrator. All letters must be written specifically for the Neil Miner Award nomination.
the nominee's curriculum vitae.

The award winner is chosen by a committee consisting of the President of the Association, who serves as Chair; the immediate Past-President; the Secretary/treasurer; and two members recommended by the Executive Committee. Nominations not selected for the award will be considered for two subsequent years.

Nomination Deadline is April 15.

You may submit all nomination materials through the online nomination form or send them all together in one package to:

NAGT
Neil Miner Award
c/o Carleton College W-SERC
One North College Street
Northfield, MN 55057

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