Gerald J. Wasserburg was awarded the 2008 William Bowie Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held 17 December 2008 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in research.

Jacobsen, Steven B.

Wasserburg, Gerald J.

Caltech Authors - Main

Eos, Vol. 90, No. 1, 6 January 2009
Updates were also given on the ICDP-
 sponsored drilling into the Lake El’gygytgyn 
impact crater (north eastern Russia), cur-
rently in progress. Also featured was a 
symposium and open forum discussing 
the recently proposed impactite nomen-
clature scheme, coauthored by Dieter 
Stöffler (Humboldt University Berlin) 
and Richard Grieve (Natural Resources 
Canada) and submitted on behalf of the 
International Union of Geological Sci-
ences (IUGS) Subcommission on the 
Systematics of Metamorphic Rocks. Rec-
ommendations and comments by LMI 
IV attendees are being summarized for 
submission to the IUGS nomenclature 
authors. An archive of the LMI IV meet-
ing abstracts is available at http:// www . lpi 
. usra . edu/ meetings/ lmi2008/. Conference 
contributions will be published in 2009 as 
a Geological Society of America Special 
Paper.
—JareD morroW,­Department­of­Geological­
­Sciences,­San­Diego­State­University,­San­Diego,­Calif.;­
­E-mail:­jmorrow@­geology­.­sdsu­.­edu;­roGer Gibson,­
School­of­Geosciences,­University­of­the­Witwater-
srand,­Johannesburg,­South­Africa;­and­WoLF­uWe 
reimoLD,­Museum­of­Natural­­History/­Leibniz­-­Institute,­
Humboldt­University­Berlin,­­Germany
Citation
It is a great pleasure to give the citation for 
the 2008 AGU William Bowie medalist, Gerald 
(“Jerry”) J. Wasserburg. His work on radio-
genic isotope geochemistry has had a pro-
found effect on Earth and planetary sciences 
and astrophysics. Jerry’s Ph.D. thesis tried to 
determine the branching ratio of 40K decay, 
and the 40K-40Ar dating of igneous rocks and 
sediments. Then he made major contributions 
to 87Rb-87Sr and U-Pb geochronology, cos-
mochronology (129I), and the significance of 
K/U ratio difference between the Earth and 
primitive meteorites and its implications for 
the Earth’s thermal history. Jerry constructed 
the first programmable high- precision mass 
spectrometer, the Lunatic-I, to work on lunar 
samples returned by the Apollo program. 
The precision of this instrument opened up 
a wide range of new problems for study and 
led to the first precise determination of the 
solar system’s initial 87Sr/86Sr value based on 
basaltic meteorites. This value is still in use 
and is essential for modeling planetary evolu-
tion. In 1969, after the Allende meteorite fall 
in Mexico, Jerry was among the first to col-
lect pieces of it. He found the Allende white 
inclusions to have lower initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios 
than the basaltic meteorites and to be the 
earliest objects formed in the solar system. 
Concurrently, work on long- and short-lived 
radionuclides showed that the long-lived 
chronometers directly date the mean age of 
the galaxy. Work on the U-Pb system in lunar 
samples combined with 87Rb-87Sr and 40K-40Ar 
age data led him to first propose the “termi-
nal lunar cataclysm” at ~3.9 billion years ago. 
Then the 147Sm-143Nd system was developed 
for a variety of terrestrial applications, form-
ing the cornerstone of modern geochemistry 
and understanding the chemical evolution 
of the Earth’s deep interior. Further work on 
the white inclusions led to the discovery that 
short-lived 26Al had been present in the early 
solar system, implying an injection of fresh 
nucleosynthetic material into the solar sys-
tem’s parental molecular cloud. Measurable 
isotopic anomalies in heavy elements (Ca, Ti, 
Ba, Sm, Nd) found in so-called fractionated 
and unknown nuclear (FUN) white inclusions 
provided direct evidence for incomplete mix-
ing of presolar nucleosynthetic components 
and survival of some of them in the early 
solar nebula. His development of precise 
230Th and 187Re-187Os chronology provided 
important tools in the fields of paleoclimatol-
ogy and mantle geochemistry, respectively. 
Jerry put forward a new way of interpreting 
the abundances of the now extinct nuclides 
in the early solar system by inferring that two 
distinct supernova sources contributed to 
the inventory of the isotopes in the interstel-
lar medium over the history of our galaxy. Of 
course, as the mark of a great leader, Jerry 
says he could not have done all this alone. 
He acknowledged this best in the abstract of 
his Crafoord Prize paper, comparing himself 
to Tom Sawyer from Mark Twain’s book: “My 
presence here is due to an ability to attract 
young talent to help whitewash the fence….” 
In recruiting these painters, many of them 
immigrant laborers, he trained and inspired a 
new generation of isotope geochemists who 
are continuing his work around the world. In 
summary, it is hard to imagine where the field 
of radiogenic isotope geochemistry and cos-
mochemistry would be today without Jerry. 
In 1986 he and Claude Allegre were awarded 
the Crafoord Prize for pioneering work on iso-
tope geology. He was also awarded the Gold-
schmidt Medal in 1977 for his contributions to 
the field of geochemistry. He is an excellent 
choice for AGU’s highest honor, the Bowie 
Medal.
—stein b. Jacobsen,­Harvard­University,­
Cambridge,­Mass.
Response
Mr. President, members of the Union, 
ladies and gentlemen: I am most pleased 
and honored to receive the AGU William 
Bowie Medal. I thank Stein Jacobsen for 
his most generous presentation and the 
conominators for so convincing the coun-
cil. I was instructed by AGU officers to give 
an oral acceptance that is “informal and 
light” (which you will hear) and a lengthy 
one that will appear in Eos that no one will 
read. 
I have spent most of my career develop-
ing instruments and techniques with my 
colleague Dimitri Anastassiou Papanas-
tassiou for the purpose of making high-
 precision, high- sensitivity measurements 
of isotopic abundances. This work, in the 
“Lunatic Asylum” Laboratory at Caltech 
using the Lunatic-I spectrometer, estab-
lished a standard of performance that 
guided the field for 30 years. It was recently 
acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for 
archiving (or internment!). 
My efforts have been devoted toward 
measurement, observation, modeling, 
and theory. Usually my work was toward 
addressing what I thought was a well-
 defined problem. It is the interplay of these 
different aspects that has led me to recog-
nize connections between different prob-
lems and very different fields— this has 
been most stimulating and gratifying to me. 
It has led to new and exciting endeavors, 
often in surprising directions. I have always 
aBOUT aGU
Gerald J. Wasserburg Awarded  
2008 William Bowie Medal
Gerald J. Wasserburg was awarded the 2008 William Bowie Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting 
Honors Ceremony, held 17 December 2008 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “outstanding 
contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in research.”
Gerald J. Wasserburg
Page 5
Eos, Vol. 90, No. 1, 6 January 2009
Citation
I am extremely happy to introduce 
Rafael L. Bras, winner of the 2007 AGU Rob-
ert E. Horton Medal. There is no doubt in 
any hydrologist’s mind that Bras is superbly 
qualified for this award. His combination of 
breadth and depth in the coverage of mul-
tiple fields in the hydrologic sciences has 
earned him a place among the most distin-
guished hydrologists of the past half century.
Rafael is dean of engineering and distin-
guished professor of civil and environmen-
tal engineering at University of California, 
Irvine. Until recently he was the Edward 
Abdun-Nur Professor of Civil and Environ-
mental Engineering at Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology (MIT), where he also 
had a joint appointment in the Department 
of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sci-
ences. His leadership in the hydrologic sci-
ences has been superb. He is the author of 
two textbooks widely used throughout the 
world and of over 160 papers in major jour-
nals with many more in books and confer-
ence proceedings. This is indeed an out-
standing scientific production; nevertheless 
it wouldn’t mean much if it were not for 
the truly magnificent quality of Rafael’s 
contributions. It is marvelous how he covers 
such a wide range of topics in water science 
and technology with the impressive depth of 
knowledge and creative thinking that he dis-
plays in all of his work. I had the privilege of 
being his Ph.D. advisor and remember very 
well that my recommendation when I left MIT, 
to the then department head, Peter S. Eagle-
son, was to bring Rafael back from Puerto 
Rico to take my position. I assured Pete on 
how much the Institute would win with the 
trade! I am proud that I was indeed correct in 
my prediction and that Rafael has become a 
world leader of the field and a source of inspi-
ration and pride for MIT, the University of Cali-
fornia at Irvine, and his friends.
Without going into full details about his 
multiple and outstanding research contri-
butions, I want to mention that Rafael has 
made pathbreaking research in hydrologic 
network design, urban storm water manage-
ment, forecasting of hydrologic series, rain-
fall modeling, optimal operation of water 
systems, irrigation control, soil- atmosphere 
interaction, ecohydrology, and the frac-
tal structure of drainage networks. In all 
of these areas, Rafael has left a permanent 
impact throughout research that is uni-
formly excellent, characterized in all cases 
by a wonderful choice of problems, and full 
of creative and imaginative ideas.
Rafael’s excellence in research has 
brought him numerous distinctions nation-
ally and internationally. In the United States 
he has received multiple awards from the 
American Society of Civil Engineers and 
the American Meteorological Society. He 
is also a member of the National Acad-
emy of Engineering and a recipient of the 
Clarke Prize, for outstanding achievement 
in water sciences and technology. The 
American Geophysical Union has distin-
guished him with the Hydrologic Sciences 
Award and the James B. Macelwane Medal. 
The number and quality of his students 
is also impressive. They are all over the 
world occupying leadership positions in 
academia, major corporations, and govern-
ment organizations. 
avoided “karaoke” science and recommend 
such avoidance to all scientists.
Earlier this year I had dinner with some 
old friends from Leningrad while visiting 
the physics department at the University 
of Minnesota. The granddaughter, a high-
school senior and just turning 18, was at 
the table. I asked her what she found most 
interesting in school. She replied, “Not 
much.” I asked further, “What do you want 
to do when you grow up?” She responded, 
“Why do you ask me this?” I said, “You are 
just turning 18 and I have just turned 81. 
I need some guidance or direction from 
you.” She is quite bright and responded, 
“You should write a book on a subject 
about which you know nothing!” Well, that 
is what I have been doing most of my life. 
I have had the privilege and pleasure of 
working with brilliant, dedicated young 
people who interact with me, discuss with 
me, argue with me, criticize me, tolerate 
me, and work toward trying to understand 
something of interest in nature. It is this 
lust for trying, often very hard, to under-
stand something of nature that is the driv-
ing force. The idea that maybe, maybe, 
I will understand something gives me a 
high, even if it is not new. If I hope that it 
is really something new, then I am elated! 
The interrelationship between 18 and 81 
is not just a switch of digits. It is the inter-
play between interested players of differ-
ent ages and vitalities and skills, dedi-
cated to trying to understand. That is both 
exciting and rejuvenating. It is my belief 
that whatever I am working on right now 
is the most important thing I ever did. I 
recently sent an e-mail to my colleague 
Yong-Zhong Qian in Minnesota about a 
possible new project. He responded, “We 
just got the proofs of our article; let us get 
that finished. Then we can talk about a 
grand new adventure.” The new problem is 
always the most exciting problem.
I have had the privilege of working with 
brilliant young people who play that game. 
It is continuing this activity that keeps part 
of me always closer to 18 than to 81. That is 
the fountain of youth—drink from it! 
There is one other issue I will com-
ment on. Work on selected advisory bod-
ies to branches of government is an impor-
tant public service. It is also extremely 
educational. It gives one a broader view of 
the scientific and technical enterprises of 
the world and, if one does not just focus 
on his own area of special interest, leads 
to a better understanding of science, sci-
ence management, the structure of gov-
ernment, and the assignment of resources. 
One comes to recognize three great truths 
of science management: (1) The primary 
function of any agency of government/ 
industry is to obtain or maintain the high-
est possible level of long- term funding, 
independent of the real scientific or tech-
nical virtues of a program, or of national 
need. (2) If you work at it very hard, it is 
sometimes possible to get the vector of 
policy actions closer (by, say, a millira-
dian) to an objective that may have real 
scientific virtue. (3) Sometimes there are 
program managers who focus great effort 
at identifying and supporting truly inno-
vative work. They are the individuals who 
make the system work and help science 
and technology progress.
—GeraLD J. WasserburG,­California­Institute­of­
Technology,­Pasadena
Special Presentation: Bras Awarded  
2007 Robert E. Horton Medal
Rafael L. Bras was awarded the 2007 Robert E. Horton Medal during a special presenta-
tion at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held 17 December 2008 in San Francisco, 
Calif. The medal is for “outstanding contributions to hydrology.”
Rafael L. Bras
Page 6


Gerald J. Wasserburg Awarded 2008 William Bowie Medal

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