Kennard Baker Bork (born October 13, 1940) is a retired university teacher of

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

from the United States. He graduated with a BA from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

in 1962 then went on to obtain an MA (1964) and a PhD (1967) from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest ca ...

. He ended a career stretching more than 35 years as ''Alumni Professor'' at

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

Granville, Ohio Granville is a village in Licking County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,646 at the 2010 census. The village is located in a rural area of rolling hills in central Ohio. It is east of Columbus, the state capital, and west of Newar ...

Awards

Bork has been honored not only for his solid record as an undergraduate geoscience teacher but also for his contributions to the study of the history and development of geology. In 1997 the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

(GSA) awarded him the ''History of Geology Award'', normally granted to scholars affiliated with much larger universities. And in 2000 Bork was awarded the Neil Miner Award for "contributions to the stimulation of interest in Earth Science" by the

National Association of Geoscience Teachers The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) is a North American organization that seeks to foster improvement in the teaching of the earth sciences at all levels of formal and informal instruction, to emphasize the cultural significance ...

. He is a Fellow of the GSA.

Publications

Bork's several dozen professional publications includes articles relating to sedimentology, stratigraphy,

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

historical geology Historical geology or palaeogeology is a discipline that uses the principles and methods of geology to reconstruct the geological history of Earth. Historical geology examines the vastness of geologic time, measured in billions of years, and inve ...

and

paleoecology Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

. One of Bork's most notable academic accomplishments was the publication of the book ''Cracking Rocks and Defending Democracy'' (published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1994) on geologist and social activist Kirtley F. Mather (1888-1978).Profile of Kirtley F. Mather
/ref>

References

1940 births Living people 20th-century American geologists 21st-century American geologists DePauw University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Denison University faculty Fellows of the Geological Society of America {{US-geologist-stub