A&S Outstanding Former Faculty Member 2005

 Horace "Bill" D. Thomas

   Professor Horace D. Thomas (better-known as Bill), Department of Geology and Geophysics, was born and grew up in Laramie, Wyoming. Thomas earned both a B.S. and an M.S. in geology from the University of Wyoming. In 1935, he received a Ph.D. in geology from Columbia University.

   A member of UW’s geology faculty since 1931, Thomas died in May 1967. He was a passionate teacher, and his research on the stratigraphy of the Rocky Mountains was widely recognized among his peers.

   Thomas served the state of Wyoming well and was Wyoming State Geologist and director of the Wyoming Geological Survey from 1941 until his death. Thomas joined the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Committee in 1958, and he was vice president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1949.