ROBERT D. HALL: GEOLOGIST, TEACHER, MENTOR, FRIEND

Undergraduate geology students occupied Bob Hall's lab at the time he was beginning his hornblende etching work. And while I worked in his lab, I must say I was quite pleased to not be segregating his hornblende grains. I also never blew up his de-flocculating thing-a-ma-jig. I was happy to head uphill into the Wind River Mountains with an already full pack, only to come downhill with 15 additional kilograms of “dirt.” He was a demanding advisor, but as an undergraduate, when we left his office, we knew exactly where we stood, and were better for it. During the time before phrases such as “outcomes assessment” and “critical thinking” were commonplace in higher education, Bob Hall knew how to get the outcome he wanted—the right one, and how to guide his students to critical thinking paradise. I learned to observe from Bob. Bob taught me to segregate observations from interpretations. Bob, with help from Art Mirsky, taught me to speak and write…about my science. And when I didn't get it right, his multi-colored pens segregated remarks pertaining to my verbosity and redundancy, my structure and organization “problems,” and my accuracy and content. It is amazing how I am now proud to say that I teach “Bob Hall courses,” even if my students wish I didn't. I also still wonder…was I the only undergraduate student to lose points on a paper because I blindly cut and pasted a figure (with proper citation!) in which the USGS had made a mistake?