Remembering our faculty

Alfred C. Lane

Alfred Lane was a Professor of Geology at Tufts University from 1909 to 1936. He implemented rigorous undergraduate training with the vision of transforming geology from a purely qualitative earth science to a modern quantitative discipline closely related to physics and chemistry. Among his students was Bob Nichols.

Brief memorial to Alfred Lane

Robert L. Nichols

Bob Nichols was a graduate of Tufts University in addition to being one of its Professors of Geology. He was particularly known for his many years researching polar geomorphology through expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. Tufts undergraduates comprised most of his field assistants on these expeditions. His love for Tufts, Boston, and the planet Earth were obvious to all those he passionately taught.

Brief memorial to Robert Nichols

Charles E. Stearns

Charlie Stearns dedicated more than five decades to Tufts University as student, Assistant Professor of Geology, and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He is a specialist in Pleistocene stratigraphy and shoreline geomorphology, as well as structural development in the Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico.

Brief memorial toCharles Stearns

James D. Hume

Jim Hume held strong beliefs in the interdisciplinary nature of science and worked closely with the Archaeology, Biology, and Engineering departments at Tufts. His research centered on beach and near-shore sediments around Point Barrow, Alaska and archaeological geology in New Hampshire. Jim also helped organize the move of the Geology Department from Barnum Hall to Lane Hall, and designed the new department space to allow for constant and close student-faculty interaction.

Brief memorial to James Hume