President's page: Manpower and education in geophysics

Abstract

Developments over the past few years have focused national attention on the need for a greatly expanded program of research in the broad area encompassed by geophysics. This, in turn, has very properly directed attention to the associated problems of manpower and education in geophysics. With the current healthy emphasis on coherent long‐range planning of research programs, the matter of attracting adequate lumbers of young people into geophysics and providing imaginatively conceived, soundly organized, and challenging programs of instruction that will insure skilled technicians, competent professionals, and creative scientists is rapidly taking on increasing importance and urgency. This is not a problem which is solely the concern of the colleges and universities, although their interest and their role are the vital elements. It is a problem which will require concerted action on the part of the colleges and universities, the scientific community generally and Earth scientists particularly, the federal and state governments—and certainly the American Geophysical Union. This may be one of the most important problems facing the Union during the next triennium.