Memorial to Russell Spurgeon Poor 1899-1972

ROBERT O. VERNON Director, Division o f Interior Resources, Department o f Natural Resources, Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Russell Spurgeon Poor, of Bethcsda, Maryland, hon­ ored for his contributions in such diverse fields as education, nuclear sciencc, dentistry, medicine, and geology, died of an aortic aneurysm while visiting friends in Gainesville, Florida. He died on Febru­ ary 17, 1972, in the University of Florida Hospital, a facility he helped design, promote, and fund through the Florida Legislature. I became acquainted with Dr. Poor at Birmingham- Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was successively an associate professor and head of the Department of Geology, chairman of the Division of Natural Resources, and assistant to the president. His tenure at Birmingham-Southern extended over the period from 1927 to 1943, during which time he completed some 24 studies in the field of earth sciences, lie was an inspiring and demanding teacher and was respon­ sible for guiding numerous students into disciplines of science, medicine, biology, and geology as their lifetime work, lie had an enduring abhorrence of any professional who was “educated” and yet could not spell, write, or speak in correct and precise language and grammar. He was understanding in all ways, requiring what he labeled "compatibility courses” from those of us who wandered across the campus hand in hand. Russell Spurgeon was born in Cowgill, Missouri, to Alvin Hustace and Mollie (Petly) Poor, a farm family of moderate means. He developed a healthy body and an early interest in the world around him. Today we would call Ibis “environmental aware­ ness.” This awareness, backed by a Christian concern for people’s welfare, impelled him to seek higher education. In 1918 he enrolled at Missouri Wesleyan College and later at the University of Illinois. Like many other students, he earned his baccalaureate degree while working as an assistant in chemistry at the college and later as assistant city chemist for Kansas City, lie was employed for summer field work by the Kentucky and Illinois geological surveys. As an undergraduate and graduate student at the Univer­ sity of Illinois where lie held scholarships and teaching assistantships from 1923 to 1927, he earned a baccalaureate in science in 1923, a master of sciencc in 1925, and a doctorate of philosophy in 1927, with majors in geology and chemistry. His dedi­ cation and leadership were recognized by his election to Phi Beta Kappa, lie was principal of Brookfield High School in Missouri from 1919 to 1921, and upon com-

160 RUSSELL SPURGEON POOR 161 pletion of his graduate work at Illinois he joined the faculty o f Birmingham-Southern College, a Methodist-supported school. Once during a trip he admonished me because he thought I drove too rapidly along the highway “to take time to look at the exposures and contemplate their meaning.” I feel sure that were he alive now he would find significance in the environmentalists’ list of endangered species. He would use these as an illustration of those species which were endangered in the past and which became extinct and made the markers of geologic time. Doc was a masterful teacher, and I was privileged to assist him in the laboratory where he was prone to encourage the taste test for guano and disappear to leave the poor laboratory assistant victim of the wrath of the student when the sample was finally identified. He had a knack for making complicated geologic problems easily understood; the clarity and inspiration of his lectures encouraged a high percentage of the small student body to enroll in his classes—many to move on to professional careers in the physical sciences. Those of us who were Doc’s students will remember his great interest in us, both personally and academically. There should be a special award for teachers such as he who expressed such warm concern for people. He was always available for conferences, to listen to problems, to suggest practical solutions, and to lend encouragement. His home was available to all his students and indeed he and Mrs. Poor served “in loco parentis.” It was a comfort indeed when we went to school to have such friends nearby. Those attending a field trip with him approached each exposure with the enthusiasm and the anticipation of children opening presents. Each student was encouraged to “contemplate the meaning of the exposure” and gently shoved toward the discovery of a sound geologic principal—be it physical or historical. These foundations were rarely forgotten, for Doc had a story that illustrated each point and laid a solid educational foundation—lecture by lecture, trip by trip. His talents for administrative detail and his organizational abilities resulted in a series of appointments. He was dean of the Auburn University Graduate School and director of the Auburn Research Foundation from 1943 to 1948. In 1948 he became chairman of the University Relations Division of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. He served in a variety of advisory and administrative posts from 1948 to 1953. It was as director of the Medical Center Study at the University o f Florida and as provost o f the J. Hillis Miller Health Center that Dr. Poor employed all o f his persua­ sive talents and personality to promote and coordinate into a uniform and acceptable program the work products o f numerous dynamic and career-oriented medical task groups. The final program was the nucleus about which a teaching hospital was designed and built. The appropriation for the hospital was made by a reluctant legislature only after two years of hard and persistent lobbying. He never became estranged from nor disappointed in his church. I recall with pleasure the several hours my family was privileged to spend with him and Edna a month before he died, at which time one of the youngsters asked, “How do you know there is a God?” and a logical dialogue between them continued through most of the evening. Later, he thought to send, to each child, a copy of the Reader’s Digest, 162 THK GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

December 1946, condensation ofCressy Morrison’s book, Man Does Not Stand Alone, and entitled, “Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God.” Russ was most fortunate to have had two devoted companions to share his life. He married Cleta Viola Price on June 17, 1927. Widowed, he married Edna Guth Ketchum at Bethesda, Maryland, on November 18, 1967. Both were loved by Russ’s mounting numbers of students and friends. From 1962 to 1970, Dr. Poor served as director of the Division of Nuclear Education and Training, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Utilizing his training in metallurgy and mineralogy, he held concurrently (1964-1972) an appointment as chairman of the National Institute of Dental Research Committee. He had served previously as a mem­ ber of the National Advisory Dental Research Council, and was a special consultant to the NIDR until his death. Upon his retirement in January of 1970 as director of the Division of Nuclear Education and Training, Mr. Theos J. Thompson, commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, wrote to him: You have presided over the development of the AEC’s Nuclear Education and Training Division at the time when the nuclear age really began to reach full flow. You realiz.ed the need for special types of education and training in the new field. You have helped to strengthen nuclear engineering education and have wisely guided the always insufficient AFC funds into sound channels. You have helped to foster the productive use of research reactors for training and research purposes. You have been an advocate before the Commission in all of these matters. All of this you have done without losing the confidence, good will, and friendship of those with whom you have worked. I salute you. You have really carried out a long and distinguished career in the field of natural sciences and in the administration of science. Your pioneering impact has been very important to all o f us. Yet, I do not want you to feel that this is the end, but rather the beginning of yet a new career. I sincerely hope that you do not ‘retire,’ but instead get involved in new efforts to which you can turn your talents. For one thing, I hope you get involved in helping those same nuclear engineering teaching groups that you brought along so well, to survive and continue to put out useful nuclear engineers in these times of budget stringency. They will need supplementary help from industry, from private foundations, and from other sources to survive. Perhaps you can find ways to do this? And perhaps you can point out to the teaching institutions how they might better use their limited funds or how their educational patterns can be shifted to meet the needs of a changing nuclear demand. And Dr. Poor never did retire. At the time of his death he was on special assignment for the Dental Research Institute. Advisory, planning, and organizational special assign­ ments made by state and national organizations recognized his talents in the earth sciences, his organizational abilities, and his dedication to people. He was honored by election as a Fellow of the University of Illinois (1926-1927), Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (1950), and a Fellow of The Geological Society of America (1948). Birmingham-Southern College honored him with a doctor of science (honorary) in 1955, and he was elected throughout his career to eight RUSSELL SPURGEON POOR 163 honorary societies. He was a member of Gamma Alpha and Delta Sigma Phi; he was a Mason and a Kiwanian. Friend, talented teacher, resourceful administrator and planner, a good neighbor— Russell Poor is missed. He dedicated his life to service to people and science, and he continued his service through the willing o f his body to the Medical Center at the University of Florida. On March 10, 1972, he would have been 73. He is survived by two sons, William R. Poor of Birmingham, Alabama, and Robert C.Poor o f Charlotte, North Carolina; by his wife, Mrs. Edna Ketchum Poor o f Bethesda, Maryland; by Ronald B. Ketchum o f Washington, D.C.; and Arlene A. Ketchum of the Bronx, New York.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RUSSELL SPURGEON POOR

1925 The character and significance o f the basal conglomerate o f the Pennsylvania system in southern Illinois: Illinois Acad. Sci. Trans., v. 18, p. 369-375. 1927 Oil possibilities o f the Galesburg quadrangle, Knox and Warren Counties, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey, Illinois Petroleum, ser. no. 9, 8 p., 2 figs. ------The geology and mineral resources of the Galesburg quadrangle: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull., 10 p. 1930 The geologic making o f the Birmingham district, Alabama: Birmingham-Southern College Bull., v. 23, no. 5, 29 p., 1 fig., 1 pi. 1932 Alabama caverns, Jefferson County: Alabama Geol. Survey, Spec. Rept. no. 16, p. 67. 1933 Cyclic sedimentation in the Pennsylvania coal fields of Alabama: Alabama Acad. Sci. Jour., v. 4, p. 31. 1934 Graptolites from Alabama: Rocks and Minerals, v. 9, no. 3, p. 35. ------Some mineralogical data on the dust storm o f November 13,1933, at Birmingham, Alabama: Am. Meteorol. Soc. Bull., v. 15, p. 194-198. ------Principles of petrology (Tyrell), a review: Econ. Geology, v. XX, p. 508-509. ------Petrographic methods for soil laboratories (FRY), a review: Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. IV, no. 2: U.S. Dept. Agriculture Tech. Bull. 344, 96 p. 1935 The geologic making o f Alabama: Rocks and Minerals, v. 10, no. 5, p. 65-67. ------The South’s position in the mineral industry: Science, v. XXX, no. 2116, p. 47-51. ------Building stone in the Russellville area: Alabama Acad. Sci. Jour., v. 7, p. 37-38. ------Neglected factors in the study of ancient sediments: Alabama Sci. Jour., v. 9, pt. 2, p. 35. ------Silting of reservoirs, a review, by Henry Minter Eakin, and others: Jour. Sed. Petrology, in U.S. Dept. Agriculture Tech. Bull., no. 524, v. 7, no. 1, p. 36-37. ------Geology of Alabama coal fields: Mechanization, v. II, p. 47-55. 1939 Variations in depth at the Hog Mountain gold mine: Alabama Acad. Sci. Jour., v. 11, pt. 2, p. 40. 1947 (ed.), Proceedings of the Auburn Conference on the use of radioactive isotopes in agri­ cultural research: Ann Arbor, Mich., Edward Brothers, Inc., 146 p. 1948 Seventy-five years o f progress in the mineral industry (1871-1946), a review: Science, v. 107, p. 516. 1954 “What are the responsibilities of teachers o f undergraduates for research?” : Program of the ninth national conference on higher education, Chicago: Washington, D.C., Current Issue in Higher Education, p. 115-121.