AGI Past Board Member Robert Ridky Passes Away
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is saddened to share the news that colleague and friend Dr. Robert W. Ridky passed away recently. An AGI Past Member of the Executive Committee (Board of Directors), Ridky won the William B. Heroy Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to AGI (2002) for his exceptional leadership in earth science education, including improving field-training opportunities for students entering the geosciences.
He served as a professor of geology, science education, and related subjects at the University of Maryland starting in the early 1970s, when he first became an active member of the AGI Education Committee and participant in the Earth Science Curriculum Project. A past president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT), Ridky was instrumental in the production of a collaborative project, AGI’s Lab Manual in Physical Geology, first published in 1986. He also worked on the science content standards for the 1996 National Academy of Sciences National Science Education Standards and also servered as a National Science Foundation program officer. In 2002 he was appointed National Coordinator for Education of the U.S. Geological Survey, where he was a key driver of Earth Science Week and numerous other geoscience efforts. Ridky received NAGT’s Robert Christman Distinguished Service Award in 2011 and was active with a number of additional geoscience societies, including the Geological Society of America.
“Bob Ridky was a great friend and supporter who had an immense impact on AGI and on the geosciences,” said AGI Executive Director Dr. Jonathan Arthur. “We will miss his friendship, dedication, and leadership in strengthening geoscience education, professional development, scientific communication, and student pathways into the earth science.”
About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional organizations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the geoscience needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.
Contact: Geoff Camphire, AGI Communications gac@americangeosciences.org