Tales Out of School

HARD ROCK

When I discovered that volcanology was a unique aspect of geology because it means actually observing active processes, not just old rocks, I learned that Dick Stoiber '32 was THE MAN to work For. He was already 66 and retired, so I was a little nervous. My polite letter asked him about his plans for further research. He read it correctly and responded: "I have'not yet died and don't plan to do so soon, so come to work with me."

Dick hasmore new ideas, himself, than just about anyone I have ever met. He drops these little pearls into the laps of his students in casual conversations, and then sits back to see how they react. His students did more different projects, went on more excited trips to foreign countries, co-authored more papers, and met more worldwide leaders than most typical graduate students. However, that meant that we all worked more and harder than average graduate students. The payoff: "Stoiber's Boys" make up a large percentage of the leaders in volcanology in the U.S.