UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #734
DOTT, JR., ROBERT H.

DOTT, Jr., Robert H. (1929- )
Professor Emeritus, Geology Department
At UW: 1958-1994

Interviewed: 2005	
Interviewer: Robert Lange
Length: 11 hours, 30 minutes

Father’s geology career; Early education; Undergraduate and graduate study of geology; Dissertation; Humble Oil and Refining Company; Air Force Cambridge Research Center; Teaching at UW; Geology of Baraboo Hills; Textbook publication; Tenure; History of geology department; Research projects; Students; Honors and awards; Research and teaching on history of geology; Campus protests; TA strike;  Committee service; Faculty governance; Views on teaching; Visiting scholars from China; Roadside Geology of Wisconsin.  

First Interview Session (November 16, 2005)

00:00:00	Robert Dott was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 1929.  His father was a geologist in the oil industry there, but had worked in Argentina and Bolivia for Standard Oil Co.  His father later became chief geologist for a small oil company in Tulsa.

00:02:55	His father became unemployed as the Depression hit his oil company.  He worked for the State Geological Survey beginning in 1935 as state geologist in Norman, Oklahoma.

00:05:30	RD grew up in Norman in the “dust bowl” era. His uncle was also a petroleum geologist in Tulsa.

00:07:35	Description of poverty on Oklahoma farms.

00:09:18	RD talks about his primary education in Norman, high school education and influential teachers.

00:12:35	He wanted to be anything but a geologist at that time.

00:14:30	His maternal grandfather was a self-taught engineer.  He worked for a steam engine company in Pennsylvania.

00:19:20	Naval bases for air training in Norman.

00:21:40	Native American community in Norman.  Norman had an ordinance that blacks could not be in town between sunset and sunrise. RD recollects experiences with segregation.

00:25:55	RD attended the University of Oklahoma for two years before transferring to the University of Michigan.

00:27:00	He continues to discuss segregation in Oklahoma.

00:29:15	RD matriculated at the University of Oklahoma in fall 1946.

00:31:15	Several factors influenced his choice of career, including a childhood trip to the mountains in New Mexico.

00:32:30	During college he worked as a camp counselor in Colorado Springs.

00:33:00	His father encouraged him to study geology.  He particularly enjoyed working with maps.

00:39:30	After his sophomore year in college, RD worked as a field assistant in central Montana.

00:41:40	RD describes his education at Michigan after he transferred there in 1948.  He entered the Air Force ROTC program.

00:42:25	He describes his professors and the curriculum at Michigan.

00:50:45	RD gravitated toward sedimentary geology as his specific source of study.  He was interested in reconstructing the past.

00:54:10	He graduated from Michigan in 1950 and stayed there to pursue a master’s degree in geology.

00:55:35	During the summer of 1950 he went to Missouri with a fellow student to map a topographic quadrangle.  This mapping formed the basis for his master’s thesis.  He also spent a month in boot camp in Ohio.

00:58:50	Expectations of being drafted during the Korean War influenced his decision to marry his fiancée, whom he met in the geology department at Michigan.

01:01:00	After completing his master’s in 1951, his advisor encouraged him to pursue a PhD.  He was attracted to Columbia University by a faculty member there who studied tectonics.

01:03:40	RD won an Atomic Energy Commission fellowship to fund his PhD at Columbia University.

01:04:30	Geology faculty at Columbia.

01:11:00	RD describes some significant developments in the field of geology around the time he was at Columbia: establishment of the Lamont Geological Observatory; new programs on marine geophysics and geochemistry; research on deep sea cores; new ways of thinking about sedimentary deposits.

01:21:35	His dissertation was on shallow marine rocks in Nevada.

01:22:40	RD describes the experience of living in New York City with his wife.

01:27:00	Background of faculty with whom he worked, including Marshall Kay.

01:28:30	Kay, RD’s advisor, adhered to the traditional geosyncline paradigm for studying mountains.  RD talks about other research on volcanic islands.

01:44:15	He describes the development of the “spreading oceans” idea.

01:54:35	He determined to study sedimentary rocks within mountain belts in order to understand the tectonic history of these belts.

01:56:00	RD talks about his plans for his career after leaving Columbia.  He wanted to try a career in the oil industry.  He was unsure if he would be a good teacher.

01:58:30	He took a job with an oil company in Oklahoma before completing his dissertation.

02:01:35	Rather than returning to Columbia, RD completed his lab work at Tulsa University.  He lined up an oil company job in Arizona in 1954.  He was quickly transferred to Oregon.

02:03:15	RD describes his dissertation on sedimentary rocks in northeastern Nevada.  Completed in 1955 while working in Eugene.

02:10:05	He published his dissertation, which received an award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

02:11:20	RD worked for the Humble Oil and Refining Company in Eugene, Oregon in 1954.  Reasons for Humble exploring the Northwest.  Views on the geological history of the region.

02:22:05	Humble Oil assigned RD to accompany an academic consultant, Lowell R. Laudon from the University of Wisconsin.  Describes meeting Laudon.

02:29:25	RD describes the “geological reconnaissance” they undertook in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  Laudon’s expertise.

02:35:05	Laudon proselytized for Wisconsin.

02:37:30	During the winter of 1954-55, RD worked in the Humble Oil offices in Eugene, Oregon.

02:40:48	RD again worked with Lowell Laudon and one of his students, John Harbaugh, in the summer of 1955.

02:43:50	He was called up by the Air Force assigned to the Air Force Cambridge Research Center in Bedford, Massachusetts.  He worked in the Geophysics Research Directorate as a logistical planner for field experiments.   He describes several research projects, including research on the thickness of sea ice for possible emergency landings of US bomber aircraft.

02:58:30	Several meteorologists from the Air Force Cambridge Research Center wound up at Wisconsin.

03:03:05	He finished his active duty in January 1958 and returned to work with Humble Oil in Los Angeles.  By this time he had determined to pursue an academic career.  

03:04:35	RD worked on subsurface geology in the Ventura area.  He was not at all interested in climbing the corporate ladder.

03:07:15	He received letters from various universities in the spring of 1958.

03:08:48	End of 11/16/2005 interview session.

Second Interview Session (November 17, 2005)

00:00:00	Robert Dott resumes his discussion of being recruited by several universities to join their faculties in 1958.

00:02:40	He talks about the geologist Norman D. Newell.

00:03:55	He interviewed for a position at Columbia University and UC-Berkeley.

00:06:00	He accepted a position at UW and moved to Madison in August 1958.

00:12:22	RD describes his advanced course.  He took over responsibility for introductory geology courses, teaching assistants, a lab manual, and a field trip.

00:21:40	RD taught courses on historical geology beginning in 1961.

00:24:00	He contracted to write a textbook in the early 1960s.  RD describes the research, conceptual frameworks, and writing for this book.

00:31:55	RD talks about the “plate tectonic revolution” that came about while he was working with R. L. Batten on a geology textbook.

00:40:30	By the late 1970s the excitement of plate tectonics had dimmed for him.  RD became more interested in sediments themselves and the processes of deposition.  

00:44:00	The 1970 Geological Society of America convention in Milwaukee.

00:45:00	RD became interested in the Baraboo Hills.

00:46:25	1963 conference in Amsterdam led to contacts with a Scottish structural geologist, Ian Dalziel, who later came to UW.

00:49:15	Field trips to the Baraboo Hills.  He worked on a geological map of the area.  RD describes the geological history of the Baraboo Hills.

00:56:05	RD describes the textbook he co-authored with Batten, Evolution of the Earth.  He talks about the idea of continental drift.

00:59:00	Continental drift was controversial in the geology department.

01:16:30	RD relates his early experiences teaching geology.  He talks about fellow professors.

01:21:10 	Awards he has received for teaching.  RD describes his relationship with students and balancing teaching and research.
												
01:26:00	RD recalls having to do little to achieve tenure.  He contrasts the tenure procedure of his day with contemporary procedure the current system forces young professors to become too narrow in their outlook and discourages them from collaborating with others in the university.  RD describes some of his broad activities in geology as a young professor.

01:34:30	RD continues to relate some of his activities in the field of geology, including work during a summer on editing 1805 lecture notes by Humphry Davy.  He reiterates his perception that current tenure procedures and requirements discourage such activities that are outside of one’s mainstream research.

01:39:35	RD talks about a mentoring program for young professors.

01:42:50	He describes the geology department at the University of Wisconsin.  The department had a “hard rock” reputation when he arrived in 1958.

01:47:40	Eugene Cameron as department chair.  RD also describes Lowell Laudon and Lewis Cline.

01:49:35	George P. Woollard started a polar geophysics institute.

01:51:30	The Air Force had a contract with Woollard to develop a global gravity network to assist prediction of missile flight paths.

01:54:05	Charles Bentley, glaciologist.

01:55:40	Competition between R. C. Emmons and Laudon.

01:58:10	RD describes his lecturing style.

01:59:50	The department had an early tradition of “dictatorial” chairmen, e.g. C. K. Leith.

02:07:00	After Leith retired, the department adopted a rotating five-year system for the chairmanship.  Later a three-year term was adopted.

02:10:27	RD became department chair in 1974. Background to his chairmanship: controversy with Lewis Cline over curriculum revision in the late 1960s.  RD considered leaving UW.

02:21:00	He talks about field camps.  Plans to participate in a joint summer field course with Minnesota and Iowa were scrapped.

02:27:45	Growth of a rift between the “old guard” and a younger cohort of faculty.

02:29:35	Chairmanship of S. W. Bailey.  Proposals for a new building.  

02:34:15	RD was a visiting professor at Berkeley in 1969.  Recruitment Charles Byers as replacement for Cline.

02:37:22	RD describes the continuing development of a generational divide within the geology department. During the chairmanship of David Clark in the early 1970s, a tenure issue exacerbated divisions in the department.

02:48:20	RD became chairman in August 1974.  Within a week the department began moving into its new building, Weeks Hall. He felt nervous during his first year as chair because of the internal schism.  He describes his administrative style.

02:56:05	Some members of the department revived efforts to participate in a joint field course with Minnesota and Iowa. There were also attempts to heal the departmental schism.

03:00:10	RD comments on the nature of the field of geology and the department today. 

03:06:53	End of 11/17/2005 interview session. 

Third Interview Session (November 18, 2005)

00:00:00	Robert Dott discusses his managerial role during his term as chair of the geology department.

00:08:13	During the mid-1960s RD considered taking a faculty position at the University of Montana.

00:11:20	Recruitment of one of his classmates from Columbia.

00:13:10	Research on the geology of the Pacific coast.  During the summers he would teach a field course, conduct his own research, and visit graduate students in the field.

00:15:30	He describes the Antarctic geophysical research program.  RD proposed a project to study bedrock in the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the Andes mountain belt.  Rough crossing to the peninsula in fall 1961.

00:23:45	Tour of central Chile.  Earthquake.

00:26:20	RD regards the 1960s and 1970s as golden years for funding and research in geology.  The polar program’s office was willing to fund research on the Patagonian region.

00:29:25	One of his children was born while RD was at sea.

00:31:31	RD continues to relate stories about his family while he was doing research in Antarctica.

00:32:40	He describes a collaborative research project on South Georgia Island in 1973.  They tested a hypothesis that the island had originally been part of South America.  Research on Tierra del Fuego.

00:45:20	Research on conglomerate deposits in Patagonia.

00:48:20	Many of his graduate students did their research on sandstones in the Baraboo area.  RD also conducted research in this area.

00:52:00	He and Charles Byers organized an international research conference at Devil’s Head in 1980.

00:53:55	RD talks about the careers of his most outstanding students.  He also discusses recruitment of graduate students more generally in terms of quality and diversity.

01:03:16	RD continues to describe his graduate students and their research.

01:34:30	RD to discuss the research and careers of his most outstanding graduate students.

01:37:45	He talks about receiving the W. H. Twenhofel Medal in 1993 from the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists and the Society of Sedimentary Geology.  RD relates Twenhofel’s background as a founder of the specialty of sedimentology.

01:45:00	The Dott Ice Rise in Antarctica was named after him.

01:47:48	He talks about several other honors he has received, including the 2001 Sloss Award from the Sedimentary Division of the Geological Society of America.

01:52:20	RD created a course on the history of geologic thought in 1965.  He describes his other activities relating to history of geology, including publications and a research symposium.

01:59:20	He planned to research the history of geology during his retirement.

01:59:40	RD discusses his retirement at age 65.  He thought he should step aside for younger faculty to take his place.

02:03:50	Research on nineteenth-century English geologist Charles Lyell and his visits to America.

02:09:05	RD succeeded S. W. Bailey as the departmental historian.  He talks about aspects of the department’s history, including early female students in the 1920s.

02:16:16	RD comments on his experience of student unrest on campus in the 1960s.

02:30:00	He found his undergraduate students in the 1960s to be the most excited and engaging students he ever taught.

02:32:55	Parenting teenaged children during the 1960s.

02:34:30	Sterling Hall bombing.

02:37:20	RD comments on the TA strike.

02:45:00	RD describes his university service, which he valued because it brought him into contact with faculty members from other fields.  He talks about Robert Bock’s administration of the Graduate School Research Committee.

02:50:30	He worked for the Faculty Advising Service.

02:52:35	RD talks about faculty governance and its evolution from a “town hall” format to the Faculty Senate.  He thinks faculty governance has steadily eroded and more power has been conferred on administration officials.

03:01:50	He comments on his impressions of deans in the College of Letters & Science such as Leon Epstein and E. David Cronon.

03:05:50	RD served on the Deans’ Advisory Committee.  He relates the committee’s handling of problems with the department of comparative literature and the Integrated Liberal Studies program.

03:12:20	Comments on UW chancellors such as Edwin Young, Irving Shain, Donna Shalala, and David Ward.

03:20:45	He describes the camaraderie among members and alumni of the geology department.

03:27:55	The geology department developed an alumni board in the early 1990s.  He talks about the activities of the board.

03:36:15	RD reviews his career at the University of Wisconsin.  He criticizes the “corporate” nature of university affairs such as fund-raising.

03:38:15	RD relates his views on aspects of pedagogy.

03:42:45	He contrasts American and European approaches to higher education.  Anxieties about rising costs of education and their impact on egalitarianism.

03:46:30	Views on effectiveness of large lecture courses.

03:48:50	RD discusses his outreach activities, including leading field trips and delivering talks to local groups.  He and his wife collaborate on these activities.

03:52:45	He talks about creationism and “intelligent design.”

04:02:30	End of 11/18/2005 interview session.

Fourth Interview Session (December 14, 2005)

00:00:00	Robert H. Dott talks about a group of Chinese scholars sent to the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s.

00:09:45	This visiting scholar program lasted for about five years.

00:10:40	RD describes his visit to China.

00:17:30	The Chinese government paid for the scholars to come to Madison.  He talks about the scholars’ political views.

00:22:03	RD describes his lectures in China in 1986.  He talks about living and traveling in China.

00:26:45	He discusses some of his graduate students at Wisconsin, including Stephen M. Born.

00:36:25	Graduate student Tom Doe.

00:43:25	RD discusses the genesis of his book, Roadside Geology of Wisconsin.

00:53:40	He describes his writing process.

01:0	He talks about his participation in a dinner group that had been founded by UW scientists in the 1930s, the Fourth Tuesday Club.

01:08:48	End of 12/14/2005 interview session. End of interview. 

END