New chair and associate chair named for BYU Department of Geological Sciences

Scott M. Ritter accepted an appointment to serve as Chair of the BYU Geological Sciences Department effective July 1, 2007. Ritter replaces Jeffrey D. Keith who was recently named as the new BYU Associate Academic Vice President for Undergraduate Studies.

John H. McBride has been appointed to serve as the Associate Chair of the department. McBride obtained a B.S. in Mathematics and Geology from the University of Arkansas in 1978, an M.S. in Geology from the same institution, and a Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1987 from Cornell University. He worked in the petroleum industry (Amoco International Oil Co. and Shell Offshore, Inc.) for four years, and also spent five years at the British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, University of Cambridge. McBride joined the BYU Geological Sciences Department in August 2002. His research interests include acquiring, processing, and interpreting geophysical data, particularly seismic reflection data.

Scott M. Ritter received his B.S. (1981) and M.S. (1983) degrees in Geology from Brigham Young University. He then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he completed his Ph.D. in 1986. He subsequently taught at Oklahoma State University for five years before joining the BYU Geological Sciences faculty in 1991. His research specialties include micropaleontology and carbonate sedimentology. Recent research activities are focused upon development of a sequence biostratigraphic (conodont and fusulinid) framework for correlation of Pennsylvanian-Early Permian depositional sequences in basins located along the western margin of Pangaea and upon sedimentology of modern ooid shoals in the Bahamas.

Dr. Ritter is married to the former Kathie Murdock. They are the parents of four children and two grandchildren.