geologyatsheffield
Geology at the University of Sheffield
The site www.geologyatsheffield.co.uk is no longer current, but the 2018 version has been archived.
Click on the link to access the records.
SAGT has kindly offered to host this page in recognition of the tremendous contribution to geology achieved by the Department of Geology at the University of Sheffield.
A brief history of the Department of Geology
Dr Henry Clifton Sorby (1826-1908) was perhaps Sheffield's most internationally recognised scientist of his age. His many interests included research into the subject of geology and and part of his legacy to the University of Sheffield was a significant sum to establish a Chair of Geology. The Department was set up in 1913 under Professor W.G.Fearnsides. Prior to World War II the much of the teaching was for non-geologists, chiefly mining and engineering students with only a few pioneering Honours Geology students. Between 1945 and 1949 Professor Fred Shotton started to recruit more geology students to the Department before moving on to the University of Birmingham.
Professor Leslie R. Moore arrived in Sheffield in 1949 and immediately began to expand and develop the Department. Plans for a new building during the mid-1960s were well advanced when financial cutbacks hit and the scheme was abandoned. Nevertheless the Department continued to flourish with a growing international reputation. Moore retired in 1977, just before the compromise of splitting the Department between Mappin Street and the Beaumont Building (now Dainton) was reluctantly accepted by Professor Downie as Head of Department. Barry Dawson was appointed Sorby Professor in 1978 and Head of Department in 1980.
The unfortunate decisions made by the University's Academic Development Committee in 1986 resulted in a much weakened Geology Department just before the University Grants Committee's Earth Science Review with the result that closure was recommended. The last undergraduates completed their course in 1990 and what was left of Geology became a Unit within the Animal and Plant Sciences (APS) Department. Staff continued to teach Natural Environmental Sciences in cooperation with Geography and APS. A major effort by the staff, led by Professor Alan Spears, was rewarded with full reinstatement as the Earth Sciences Department in 1993 and the start of the Environmental Geology course. However, with such a reduced number of staff, the Department was unable to compete against the larger departments at other universities in attracting funding from research councils and failed to achieve the high research ratings demanded by the University. Despite protests from students, parents and politicians the Department was finally closed in 2001 and the staff were dispersed to other Departments in Science and Engineering.
In 2011, the geology class of 1971 instigated the production of a book recording the history and achievements of the Department. The first limited edition was published (just) in time for the Centenary reunion in 2013. A second edition of "Sorby's Legacy: Geology at the University of Sheffield" by R. Alison Hunter was released in 2015. All proceeds from the sale of the book were donated to the Alumni Fund for the support of the Palynology courses run by Prof. Charles Wellman.
THE BOOK IS NOW OUT OF PRINT AND NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
1st Edition - published for the Centenary Reunion in 2013
2nd Edition - published in 2015 incorporated corrections and a description of the 2013 Reunion
1963 - 50th Anniversary in Firth Hall
2013 - Centenary Reunion in Firth Court
