George A. Kolstad (1919–1996)

Abstract

George A. Kolstad, creator and leader of the U.S. Department of Energy's Geosciences Research Program, died of an aneurysm August 7, 1996, in Baltimore, Md. He is survived by Chris, his wife of 52 years, three children, Martha Rae Kolstad Wilhelm of Grinnell, Iowa, Charles D. Kolstad of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Peter K. Kolstad, of Los Angeles, Calif., and four grandchildren. George is also survived by three brothers and a sister.George was born in Elmira, N.Y., on December 10, 1919. Following high school graduation in 1937, he worked at Eastman Kodak while enrolled in night courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester. He entered Bates College in 1939 and completed his B.S. in physics and mathematics in 1943. During World War II, he worked on piezo‐electricity, radar countermeasures, and information flow from radar systems in combat environments. Following his Ph.D. in physics at Yale and brief service on the faculty there, he joined the Atomic Energy Commission in 1950. He began a career of fostering and nurturing basic research efforts, first in physics and mathematics, and then in the geosciences. He was a guest staff member at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Copenhagen, in 1956–1957, and served as a trustee of Bates College from 1958 to 1964.