Dr. William R. Brice, author of the soon-to-be published biography Myth, Legend, Reality: Edwin L. Drake and the Early Oil Industry, will be the guest speaker at the fifth annual lecture of the Barbara Morgan Harvey Center for the Study of Oil Heritage at Clarion University-Venango Campus. The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday, October 22, 2009, in the Robert W. Rhoades Center auditorium at 7 p.m. A dessert reception will follow the program.
Dr. Brice is a professor emeritus of geology & planetary science at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where he served from 1971 until his retirement in 2005. Prior to joining the faculty at UPJ, he taught physics and mathematics in secondary schools in Clermont, Florida, and Taroona, Tasmania, Australia. During his tenure at UPJ, Dr. Brice was also a member of the summer geology faculty at Cornell University. On a sabbatical in 1978, he served on the faculty of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education and was a visiting research associate at the University of Tasmania.
Dr. Brice was an invited visiting lecturer and researcher at the State University at Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1992 and 2001. He received the Dr. Edward A. Vizzini Teacher of the Year Award from the Division of Natural Sciences in 2003 and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 at UPJ.
During the fall term of 2005, his last term of teaching before retirement, Dr. Brice participated in the Semester-at-Sea program, where he joined 28 other faculty members and 700 students in a 100-day voyage around the world.
Dr. Brice has served as president of the History of Earth Sciences Society (HESS) and is associate editor of the HESS journal, Earth Sciences History. He was secretary/treasurer/editor of the History of Geology Division of the Geological Society of America and received the Gerald M. and Sue T. Friedman Distinguished Service Award from the History of Geology Division/GSA2008. He was the founding president of the Petroleum History Institute (PHI) and was awarded the PHI Distinguished Service Award in 2005. He is the current editor of the PHI journal Oil Industry History.
Dr. Brice’s main areas of research are biographical studies of nineteenth century geologists and the early history of the oil and gas industry. He has published or presented more than 100 articles and papers on the subjects of the history of geology, history of the oil and gas industry, and biographical studies. He has also published two books, Cornell Geology through the Years, an account of the first 125 years of the geology department at Cornell University, and Gilbert Dennison Harris: A Life with Fossils, the biography of the Cornell professor and founder of The Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, New York. His new biography of Colonel Drake will be published in several months.
Dr. Brice earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Florida and a diploma of education in science education from the University of Tasmania, Australia. He received both his master’s degree in earth science education and his Ph.D. in geochemistry from Cornell University.
Clarion University-Venango Campus, located in Oil City, is the oldest regional campus in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. The campus provides high-quality educational programs and personalized services to help students succeed. Students can begin any of Clarion University’s 90+ bachelor’s degrees at the Venango Campus, earn an associate degree, a bachelor’s or master’s degree in select areas, obtain a one-year certificate or participate in a variety of professional development and personal enrichment courses. The campus is home to Clarion University’s School of Nursing and Allied Health, the Department of Applied Technology, and the Venango Department of Arts and Sciences. Clarion University-Venango Campus is committed to serving the needs of the community.