Article by Stephen Pickering

This year Kingston Geology celebrates 70 years since its creation by Doug Whitten.

One thing in my life of which I am immensely proud is that I graduated in Geology from what was then Kingston Polytechnic in 1973, at the time I did not appreciate what a wonderful teaching institution it was, but now I do!

The School of Geology, in what was then Kingston College of Art and Technology was founded in 1946 by Doug Whitten. Doug was the driving force behind the evolution of one of the best geology teaching departments in the United Kingdom, which included a number of brilliant lecturers including Glyn Jenkins, George Raine, Alistair Gardner, Derek Coussell, and of course the stalwart of the department Professor Dick Moody. What was special was the Geology education offered at Kingston, it was comprehensive covering all aspects of Earth Science and this provided a wonderful starting point for all our careers, the graduates of Kingston have been a geological diaspore to be found in every type of geological industry throughout the world. We have been recognised for our skill and expertise in oil and gas, mining, engineering geology and academia, and of course our own Malcolm Brown is now President of the Geological Society of London, an honour indeed.

To me it seems like yesterday that we celebrated 50 years of the department but in a few weeks on 18th November we will celebrate 70 years. The day will begin at 2pm at the Penrhyn Road campus with a welcome from our ‘Master of Ceremonies’ Malcolm Brown, followed by a series of topical talks from alumni and academic staff. There will then be a tour of the Department Geology with the opportunity to see some of the projects our current students are working on. The evening session will begin at 6:30pm with Geology-themed wine tasting, followed by dinner taking place in the Picton Room at Kingston University.

Come and join us and meet old friends, for tickets go to 70 Rocks webpage:http://www.kingston.ac.uk/events/item/2143/18-nov-2016-70-rocks-celebrating-70-years-of-geology-at-kingston-university/

Please forward this link to anyone you know who taught or studied at Kingston, I hope to see there!

Steve Pickering 1970 – 1973