The Holmes Award is given each year in memoriam of Chauncey D. Holmes, an alum of Syracuse University who established the honor to recognize outstanding introductory students in the earth sciences. It was Holmes’s desire to recognize top students in introductory classes and encourage them to excel and pursue careers in the geosciences. Congratulations to the 2022 winners: William Boalt ’23, Ananya Chandra ’23, Hongkai He ’23, Eliza Kollin ’24, Jiayao Ou ’24, James Pampeyan ’22, Zoë Rennock ’24 and Ava Ricciardi ’25.
Chauncey D. Holmes studied geology at Syracuse University and completed both the undergraduate and master’s requirements in 1927. His early research focused on the glacial and interglacial development of Chittenango Falls, which resulted in his first major published paper and drew the attention of Yale University’s Geology department where he was accepted into the Ph.D. program. Holmes’s Ph.D. research at Yale University continued to focus on upstate New York’s glacial topography. Holmes confirmed the importance of the orientation of long axes of imbedded pebbles in glacial drift as signifying the direction of ice movement at the time of deposition. He coined the term “till fabric” and introduced it into the language of glacial geology.
A prime objective of Chauncey D. Holmes’ academic career was the awakening of geologic awareness among introductory students and non-geologists. To this end, he established at Syracuse University an award to recognize annually “the outstanding introductory geology students.”*
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.
*Source: Muller, Ernest H. and Rogers, James K. “Memorial to Chauncey Depew Holmes 1897-1981”. The Geological Society of America.