Memorial to Thomas Gregory Perry 1919-1972
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Memorial to Thomas Gregory Perry 1919-1972 DONALD !•:. HATTIN Department o f Geology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 4740! During the evening of August 21. 1972, Professor T. G. Perry was stricken by a fatal heart attack. On his passing the geology department at Indiana Univer sity lost a valued and convivial faculty member, the university lost one of its most accomplished teachers, and the paleontological fraternity lost one of its best known and most highly respected members. Tom’s death terminated an unusually productive career that was pursued with dedication to excellence, unwavering enthusiasm, and inspiring example. Born in Ontario on November 5, 1919, Tom re ceived his early education in Port Credit and Toronto public schools. He entered St. Michael’s College, Uni versity of Toronto, in 1938, but his undergraduate career was interrupted by World War II. From April 1941 to March 1945 he was a member of a Royal Canadian Air Force unit that was attached to the RAF. As a radar specialist he saw service in England, North Africa, Malta, Sardinia, and Italy. It was characteristic that Tom never tired of reminiscing on the lighter moments of his wartime experiences. Upon returning to civilian life Tom married Lillian Hopkins, also a Canadian, and resumed his undergraduate geology training at the University of Toronto. Tackling his subjects with /.est born of newfound motivation, he reversed a so-so prewar academic record, earning a scholarship in his junior year and the B.A. degree in May 1447. For outstanding achievement he received a scholastic gold medal in geology from St. Michael’s College. Tom continued formal training at the University of Toronto where he earned the M.A. degree in 1948 and the Ph.D. degree in 1951. A doctoral disserta tion on Paleozoic bryo/.oans, completed under I he direction of his much admired mentor, Dr. Madelaine Fritz, was the cornerstone for more (ban (wo decades of vigorous research on that group of organisms. Skill as a field geologist was gained during the summers of Tom’s graduate school years; he worked on mapping parties successively for the Ontario Department of Mines (1946), Geological Survey of Canada (1947 to 1948), and Quebec Department of Mines (1949 to 1950). Tom placed great value on this experience and spoke of it often; he had especially vivid memories of work conducted in (lie Gaspe under (lie able direction of II. W. McGerrigle. 154 THOMAS GREGORY PERRY 155 Tom joined the faculty at Indiana University as instructor in 1950 and attained the rank of professor in 1963. His career as a teacher was marked by enthusiasm for his subject, fondness for his students, and highest standards of performance. Tom’s lectures were models of organization and preparedness and were characterized by a crisp, clear delivery punctuated frequently by moments of humor that earned the lasting endear ment of his classes. In the advanced paleontology courses, graduate students would slyly exhibit fingers indicating the number o f times they had heard his favorite anec dotes. Capitalizing on the informal atmosphere that prevailed in his classrooms, Tom drew the best from his students by making active participation a regular part of the lectures. Ever willing to share his day with students, he alloted generous slices of time to frequent, often lengthy conferences with any who needed advice, and often during such sessions removed his telephone from the receiver to prevent interruption. Tom’s deep commitment to geological education extended well beyond Bloomington because he lectured often at secondary schools throughout the state, was invited to lecture at many other colleges and universities, and was twice a participant in the Distinguished Lecturer program of the American Geological Institute. In addition he was a participant in science fairs, lectured before groups o f high school science teachers, and was for three summers a guest lecturer for the Junior Engineers and Scientists Summer Institute at DePauw University. Convinced of the importance of quality earth science instruction at the secondary school level, Tom organized and directed each summer from 1961 through 1966 a National Science Foundation-sponsored Institute in Earth Science for High School Teachers. These were followed by three NSF-sponsored Academic Year Institutes that he also organized and directed. As a result o f these nine institutes, Tom’s fame as a teacher spread far beyond the borders o f Indiana; indeed it reached nearly every state in the Union. The impact of these institutes is manifest in the number of participants who entered graduate school at Indiana University and went on to earn doctoral degrees in geology or in earth science education. In 1963 Tom was appointed chairman o f a 12-man committee established by the State Superintendent o f Public Instruction and charged with preparing an Earth Science Curriculum Guide. In this regard his work had a direct bearing on the incorporation of earth science programs into secondary school curricula throughout the state. Tom’s enthusiasm for teaching was matched by that for research, and despite a heavy instructional commitment and the pleasant burden of numerous graduate ad visees, he compiled a solid record of published research that includes more than 30 scientific articles and numerous abstracts o f presented papers. Soon after coming to Indiana he commenced a program of field studies for the Indiana Geological Survey that culminated in a major coauthored work on Chesterian stratigraphy. Tom was codirector in 1953, 1954, and 1957 of three field conferences sponsored jointly by the Department of Geology and the Survey, and coauthored each of the corresponding guidebooks. During 1956 he received a research grant from The Geological Society of America for the purpose of studying Silurian bryozoans from western Tennessee. Interest in Ordovician bryozoans o f the Upper Mississippi Valley region resulted in summer affiliation during the late 1950s with the Illinois Geological Survey and led to publication o f several major papers. Tom’s precisely written, carefully illustrated articles concerning Paleozoic bryozoans 156 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA of the Midwest are standard references on the subject. His bibliography includes also articles conccrned with earth science education and several works of a popular nature. Among the latter, his Fossils: Prehistoric Animals in Hoosier Rocks became one of the most widely distributed circulars of the Indiana Geological Survey. An ardent research er, Tom gave inspiration and direction to an entire generation of graduate students, 12 of whom earned doctoral degrees under his expert guidance. The strength of the fires he kindled is evident in the number of paleontological articles published by his students in recent years. Active participation at scientific meetings was a way of life for Tom; at the time of his death he was a Fellow of The Geological Society of America (elected 1961), and held memberships in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, the Paleontological Society, the Palae ontological Association, the International Bryozoology Association, the American Asso ciation for the Advancement of Science, the Society of the Sigma Xi, and the National Association of Geology Teachers. In recent years he had twice (1968, 1971) traveled to Europe to present papers at meetings of the International Bryozoology Association. Tom was on numerous occasions a reviewer of articles for the Journal o f Paleontology and a referee for National Science Foundation research proposals. Adding distinction to an already impressive career, Tom served for five years (1964 to 1969) as coeditor of the Journal of Paleontology, a demanding task that he handled with efficiency and skill. Always cautious about office security, his colleagues and students could judge the nearness to completion of a Journal issue by the number of times Tom returned to check his office door before finally leaving the geology building at day’s end. lie helped bring the Journal to new levels of excellence, often to the chagrin, but ultimate ly with the thankful appreciation, of contributing authors. At the time of his death he had recently accepted chairmanship of the Publications Committee of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Tom’s personal life was as energetic and dedicated as his professional one. A devout Catholic, he participated actively in the affairs of his parish church and for a number ofycars assisted in serving the 7:00 A.M. mass on a daily basis. Among his close friends were several priests who were welcomed frequently to the warmth of his family circle. Older members of the Men’s Faculty Club at Indiana University remember Tom as the bottle pool champion of the early 1950s. Before his first heart attack in 1969, he was an avid jogger, and to the day of his death he remained a competent (low 80s, high 70s) golfer. Over a period spanning much of his career, he corresponded faithfully with a large and ever growing number of acquaintances; his beautifully penned letters kept colleagues, former students, and other friends fully informed of the events surrounding a busy life. Tom contributed greatly to the good fellowship of any social gathering, and his many friends will remember the congeniality of his company at meetings of the various societies. But I believe nothing gave him more pleasure than his role as master of ceremonies at the frequent student gatherings in the Perry home. He was devoted to THOMAS GREGORY PERRY 157 his family and leaves behind his wife, Lillian, three grown sons, a daughter aged 13, and two grandchildren. Tom’s professionalism as a paleontologist, his enthusiasm for teaching and research, and the great warmth o f his friendship will live on in those who had the good fortune to share his life.