Allan R. Sanford (1927–2016)

Abstract

Allan (Al) R. Sanford, professor of geophysics, emeritus, at New Mexico Tech (NMT) passed away quietly at his home in Woodinville, Washington, on 9 August 2016. He was 89. Al was a pioneer in the recording and interpretation of microearthquake seismograms. For decades, he was the leading authority concerning seismicity across New Mexico and within the Rio Grande rift (RGR). He published numerous papers with graduate students and colleagues on the unique, high‐amplitude reflected phases seen on Socorro‐area microearthquake records. Al and his students eventually attributed these phases to the presence of an extensive midcrustal magmatic sill now known as the Socorro Magma Body (SMB). Figure 1. Allan R. Sanford (1927–2016) Al was born in Pasadena, California. He attended Pomona College, but then entered the Navy to train as a radar specialist during the final 18 months of World War II. Back at Pomona following the war, he completed a B.S. degree in physics in 1949. He then spent time as the “computer” on a seismic crew prospecting for oil across the western United States. This experience led him to graduate school at California Institute of Technology where he gained knowledge in seismology while working for C. F. Richter and he completed his doctorate in geophysics under the guidance of C. H. Dix in 1958. Al was employed as a professor at NMT in Socorro from 1957 to 1997 where he taught courses in exploration geophysics and earthquake seismology, and supervised the research projects of about 50 masters students and about one dozen doctoral students. He joined Seismological Society of …