In Memoriam : Kenneth Burke Former LPI Director

Coulumbia, MD. April 2, 2018. Dr. Kevin C. A. Burke, a world-renowned professor of geology and tectonics at the University of Houston’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences since 1983, passed away at his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on March 21, 2018.

He was one of the greatest proponents of plate tectonics and mantle processes in a career that extended over seven decades and influenced multiple generations of geoscientists on many continents. With Burke’s passing, a great life force has gone out, but his spirit will live on in all of us that he inspired.

He joined the faculty of the University of Houston in 1983 and also worked as director and associate director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute at NASA in Houston until 1988.

In the 1990s and 2000s, in addition to mentoring graduate students and teaching at UH, he held many visiting professorships at NASA, JPL, UCLA, Carnegie Institute, Oslo, and South Africa. He also served on many national committees, including the National Research Council, NASA, and the National Academy of Sciences.

His lifetime achievement awards include the Geological Society of America (GSA) Structure and Tectonics Career Award (2004); the Penrose Medal, the highest award of GSA (2007); and the Arthur Holmes Medal & Membership, one of the most prestigious awards of the European Geosciences Union (2013).

Burke is survived by a brother and sister, three children and two grandchildren and USRA  expresses its condolences to his family. 

For more details please see http://www.uh.edu/nsm/earth-atmospheric/news-events/stories/2018/0328-burke-memoriam.php