Judson Mead, 93
September 16, 1917 – October 10, 2010
Professor Judson Mead, age 93, of Bloomington, passed away Sunday, October 10, 2010, at the Meadowood Health Pavilion.
He was born September 16, 1917, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Warren J. and Bertha (Taylor) Mead. He attended public schools in Madison and the Hill School in Pennsylvania. In his youth, he was a competitive sailor and an avid amateur radio operator. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940.
During the Second World War, he was a member of a research team that developed airborne electronic submarine detection equipment, flying many experimental missions in US Navy blimps and PBYs.
He returned to MIT and graduate school after the war, earning his Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1949. That same year he joined the faculty of the Indiana University Department of Geology (now Geological Sciences), where he taught Geophysics until his retirement in 1983.
He also served as the director of the Indiana University Geologic Field Station in Montana from 1960 to 1980, building the nation’s premier geologic field teaching program. In 1999, the university renamed the facility the Judson Mead Geologic Field Station in recognition of his leadership. In 1979, he received the National Association of Geology Teachers’ Neil A. Miner award.
After retiring, Professor Mead continued to serve the Department of Geological Sciences as a member of its advisory board. The Judson Mead Professorship in Geophysics was established in his honor by the department in 1999.
He was preceded in death by his brothers, Warren and Jeremiah. He is survived by Jane (Stanley), his wife of 66 years, and three sons, Judson, of Buffalo, N.Y., Thomas of Orinda, California, and John of Carbondale, Illinois, and five grandchildren, Suzanne, Thomas, Andrew, Christopher and Carolyn.
A memorial program is planned. The Indiana University Department of Geological Sciences may be contacted for more information.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Judson Mead Geologic Field Station c/o the Indiana University Foundation.
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