Bailey Willis

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Bailey Willis
Bailey Willis
Born	March 31, 1857 New York
Died	19 February 1949 Palo Alto, California
Nationality	United States;
Fields	geology
Institutions	United States Geological Survey

Bailey Willis (born March 31, 1857, in Idle Wild-on-Hudson, New York, United States; died 19 February 1949, in Palo Alto, California) was a geological engineer who worked for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and lectured at two prominent American universities. He also played a key role in getting Mount Rainier made as a national park in 1899. After later focusing more on seismology, he became one of the world's leading earthquake experts of his time. ^[1]

[edit] Early life

Bailey Willis got degrees in mining engineering and civil engineering prior to starting his career; he never married and never had any children, as he dedicated his life to his career.

[edit] Career

After receiving degrees in mining engineering and civil engineering, Willis worked from 1881 to 1884 as a survey geologist for Northern Pacific Railroad. From 1884 to 1915, he worked for the USGS, being named director of the Appalachian division in 1889. In 1893 he published "The Mechanics of Appalachian Structure"^[2] in the Report of the United States Geological Survey. From 1895 to 1902 he lectured on geology at Johns Hopkins University. In 1900 he was appointed as head of the Division of Areal Geology of the USGS. In 1910 he was awarded a gold medal from the Société Géographique de France. From 1910 until 1914 he consulted for the government of Argentina^[3]. He led a vigorous public campaign in the 1920s to raise awareness of earthquake hazards and safe building practices. After finishing his work with the USGS, he was appointed as a professor and chairman of the geology department at Stanford University, where he served until 1922. In 1920, he was elected to the National Academy of the Sciences. He was president of the Seismological Society of America from 1921 to 1926, during which time he published his Geologic Structures. In 1932, he published "Isthmian Links" in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America. And in 1944 he was awarded the Penrose Medal by the Geological Society of America.^[1]