AASP Primary Records Program

Where are They Now Series
Judy Lentin
AASP Newsletter 26(1): p. 9-10, 1993.

GEORGE FREDERICK HART

GEORGE FREDERICK HART was an Associate Professor of Geology and Palynology, at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge when the AASP was formed. He had arrived there, via Moscow and Johannesburg, from Sheffield, England (where he was a student of Leslie R. Moore) and a contemporary of Herbert Sullivan, Roger Neves, John Richardson, Bill Sarjeant and Dave Wall. He was a British Council Fellow in Germany for a short while with Robert Potonie and Hilda Grebe. Between Sheffield and Baton Rouge he spent a post-doctoral year at Moscow State University studying under Alex Bogdarnow (Professor Tectonic Geology) and Sofia Nikolaiva Naumova at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, with temporary assignments with A.A. Luber and Waltz in Leningrad. Five more years on NATO and Anglo-American post-doctoral fellowships at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa followed, where he worked with Edna Plumstead the palaeobotanist, and for a short time with Raymond Dart the Palaeoanatomist. In 1966, George, his wife Clare, and their three sons Vaughan, James and Antony emigrated to the United States to take up the position at LSU. George spent an additional year in the Soviet Union in 1973, when he worked with Sergei Meyen (Sergei and George had been classmates in 1960-61 at the Academy. At that time Sergei worked with Neuberg at the same time George worked Naumova).

The main theme of the palynology group at LSU during the past 25 years was Problems in Biostratigraphy and this resulted in a succession of students, in palynology and related areas, starting with Jim Darrell (miospores) and Ray Christopher (miospores) and followed by Bob Pierce (coccoliths), John Jendrzejewski (diatoms), Howard Harper (coccoliths), Bill Harrison (Organic geochemistry), Ron Neal (Ostracoda), Diana Gutiierz (bivalvia), Steve Robichaud (miospores), Gene Coates (lignite), Bill Ross (palynology/tectonics), Rick Ericson (gastropoda), John Wren (dinocysts), Scott Beckman (macerals), Dusty Hogenson lignites), Tom Pavlik (miospores), John Bair (miospores), Gregg Smith (palynology), Jason Darby (macerals), Anne Lenoir (dinocysts), Larry Sienkovich (dipmeters), Bill Gregory (macerals, miospores, and dinocysts), Paul Lawless (sequence stratigraphy), Mark Pasley (macerals), John Grace (economics), and Bill Evans (parallel computing). Currently George has one student Renee Thibadeaux, who will be his last. Renee is working on cores off the Louisiana Slope.

During much of the late 70's and early 80's George was Director of the Museum of Geoscience at LSU and very much involved with the development of the LSU Field Camp in Colorado, where he was occasionally Director. In 1982-83 he spent 15 months working for Texaco in New Orleans where he was involved in both exploration and production, adding substantially to Texaco's reserves by drilling 5 wildcats all of which were successful producers. Upon returning to LSU George changed his position from that of Professor of Palynology, to that of Professor of Petroleum Geology, although he continued to train students in Palynology. The relationship with Texaco flourished, as did the Petroleum Geology program at LSU. As a result of these interests George and a colleague (Tom Whelan) started a Geochemical Exploration company in 1974 (Carbon Systems Inc.). Eventually George sold out to Tom and created his own company, Hartax International Inc.

During the late 1980's and early 1990's George visited India twice through UNESCO and later the Smithsonian Institute. He became Director of Research of the Louisiana Geological Survey, a position from which he resigned in 1990 to return to full time teaching and research in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Currently his interests include all aspects of subsurface geology with emphasis on detrital systems; data base construction and analysis; GIS for natural resource and environmental management; and, 3D sub-surface correlation using computers.

George organized and hosted the first AASP meeting in Baton Rouge and has been responsible for the organization of the 1993 meeting. Together with Bob Perkins he initiated Geoscience and Man as AASP's journal and was responsible for the establishment of the AASP Contribution Series for which he wrote the first volume.

During the past 25 years Clare obtained a Master of Science degree in Ethnic Dance from LSU's Physical Education and Anthropology Departments, Vaughan obtained his B.S. in biochemistry and is currently working as a chemist in Baton Rouge, James obtained a B.S. in geology from LSU and an M.Sc. in geophysics from the University of London, England and is currently working on 3-D seismics for Texaco, and Antony is about to complete a B.A. in marketing with the intent of pursuing an MBA. They still have boxer dogs (the third) and Toyota Land Cruisers (the second about to be third). Clare and George are currently making plans to retire from LSU in May, 1994 and move to Colorado, where they own 35 acres of Boulder Mountain. From there who knows? It is said that on a clear night you can see half of the visible universe from the mountain top.