January 1953

Introducing Harvey C. Sunderman, A New Member of the Geology Staff

As a new addition to the staff of the geology department, Dr. Harvey C. Sunderman Joined us in September 1952.  Dr. Sunderman was born in Billings, Oklahoma, on March 17, 1920. Shortly after his birth his family moved to St. Marys, West Virginia, and Dr. Sunderman' s early childhood and high school days were spent there where he graduated from St. Mary's High School in June of 1937. Dr. Sunderman entered the University of Kentucky the following September.  During his undergraduate days he spent the summer vacation periods with the Virginia Geological Survey and he also worked for the Kentucky Geological Survey as an undergraduate.  In addition to holding an undergraduate assistantship, Mr. Sunderman was a president of Chi chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon.

Mr. Sunderman enlisted in the Army Air Force in May of 1942, lacking only two credit hours for a B.S. degree in geology at that time.  He served as a pilot with the 307th Bomb Group of the 13th Air Force in the Southwest Pacific area, and was discharged from active duty in December 1945.  He was awarded the B.S. degree in absentia while on active duty with the air force.  Mr. Sunderman entered the Graduate School of the University of Kentucky in January 1946; he held both a fellowship and an assistantship there.  He received his M.S. degree in June 1947.  The title of his thesis was "Relationship of Minor Secondary Structure to Major Structure in the Lynchburg Area."

Mr. Sunderman was married to Margaret Lee Dorsey of Flemingsburg, Kentucky in December 1946.  Following a summer job in 1947 as party chief with the Virginia Geological Survey Mr. Sunderman continued his academic training at the University of Wisconsin.  His major fields of interest at Wisconsin were metamorphism and structural geology, and he completed his dissertation "The "Martic Overthrust" in the Lynchburg area, Virginia," in June of 1950 and was awarded his Ph. D degree in January 1951. 

Before coming to the University of Cincinnati in September 1952 as an assistant professor, Dr. Sunderman was Economic Geologist for the Virginia Geological Survey.  Shortly after his arrival in Cincinnati the stork flew in with a bouncing baby boy, Alan C., on September 22, 1952.  Alpha Delta Chapter wishes to take this opportunity to welcome Harvey C. Sunderman.  We wish him the best of luck in the ensuing years at Cincinnati.