For many years GSH has organized the Spring Symposium in collaboration with SEG. This is one of our major annual events and many of your colleagues give of their time to help put on the best possible show and make it the most interesting for attendees.

A while back, the idea of honoring the giants of our profession was proposed and it is now a tradition. It started with the 2007 symposium that recognized Tury Taner and his considerable technical (as well as business) contributions. 2008 saw us honoring John Sherwood to whom we owe so many innovations and processing tools in imaging. In 2009, it was Frank Levin’s turn and the theme was enlarged to include new acquisition techniques. Then we honored two outstanding contributors to geophysics in 2010: Sven Treitel and Enders Robinson. Both are still actively involved in technology. Last year, our vision was illuminated by honoring Jon Claerbout for inventing and demonstrating a practical method for imaging seismic with the wave equation.

This year we asked Bob Sheriff to be the honoree and he graciously accepted. Bob hardly needs any introduction because of his legacy in geophysics – 25 successful years at Chevron; 30 years of lecturing at the University of Houston (UH) and worldwide locations; 60 years of contribution to SEG; a list of publications that includes the best seller for SEG, “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Exploration Geophysics”; and finally, a legacy of geoscientists worldwide who consider Bob as one of their true friends. In the January issue of the GSH Journal, Bob and Margaret Sheriff shared some of their worldwide highlights during the past 60 years of Bob’s geophysical career. Let’s recap a few of these highlights:

Similar to other SEG well known geophysicists who were classical physicists, Bob entered the work force during WWII in the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, Tenn. As luck would have it Margaret was a chemist at Oak Ridge and this was the beginning of their 66-year marriage. When Bob returned to Ohio State to finish his PhD, he found himself teaching because of the lack of faculty for the many returning veterans. The dream of living in California became a reality when Standard Oil of California (Chevron) offered Bob a job at their new research facility in La Habra. Ever the practical scientist, Bob requested experience in operations and was shortly transferred to New Orleans. Over the next few years, Bob was worked in San Francisco, Cuba, Trinidad, and finally in Western Australia. During this assignment a short company pamphlet on the glossary of geophysical terms was expanded and distributed by Bob to university students as a remembrance of his company.

Yes, this was the birth of SEG’s Encyclopedic Dictionary. The Dictionary led to one of Bob’s prouder career moments in 1969 when SEG awarded him the Kauffman Gold Medal for his contribution to exploration geophysics. Bob retired from Chevron in 1975 and went with Seiscom Delta to work alongside our former honoree, Tury Taner. Their collaboration resulted in the article “Complex Seismic Trace Analysis”, which might be considered the birth of modern Seismic Attribute Analysis. In 1973, Bob started lecturing at UH and joined them as a full professor in 1980. Oops, let’s back up and remember that Bob was one of the original instructors for AAPG in their highly successful course on Seismic Stratigraphy that started in 1975. This led to his book Seismic Stratigrapy, another of Bob’s numerous books. Today, Dr. Sheriff is an emeritus professor and still an active participant at GSH functions.

Along the way, Bob and Margaret have left a philanthropic legacy by endowing the coveted Sheriff Scholarships through the SEG Foundation and also have endowed two Chaired Professorships at UH.

When we use the word legacy it is multi-faceted for Bob Sheriff: as a worldwide lecturer, innovator of lasting science, prolific author of best-selling geophysics books, educational philanthropist and of course, mentor and friend of uncountable geoscientists.

Fred Hilterman, Technical Chairman, and his team have started assembling a roster of papers from both Oil and Exploration Services Companies. If you would like to submit a paper, please contact him at Fred.Hilterman@Geokinetics.com.

The GSH is working to finalize plans for this event. It will be held April 11th and 12th at the Westchase Hilton (Houston). A Gala dinner will be held on the evening of April 11 to allow attendees (and their spouses) to honor Bob and share in the fellowship of colleagues. For more general information contact Glenn Bear, General Chairman, at Glenn.W.Bear@ExxonMobil.com.

While we’re on the topic of contributors, the GSH could not put on the symposium without the financial support of many companies and individuals. This not only helps cover all of our expenses but allows us to charge a very low registration fee – especially when compared to other industry conferences. The $250 fee for a two-day conference, which includes the opportunity to meet and discuss issues with some of the industry’s leading minds and a dinner for two, is one of the best deals going!

We are soliciting support and your company will be duly recognized at the symposium. Please contact Haynie Stringer (hayniestringer47@yahoo.com) if you would like to contribute to this effort.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Go to the GSH website (www.gshtx.org) and sign up today. We look forward to seeing you there!