It was just about two months ago that we lost a giant in the field of ground water hydrology, Tom Prickett. Well, on 18 November, we lost another extraordinary "water guy", Dr. Stan Davis. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. He was 83.
I had the good fortune to know Stan, although not as well as I knew Tom. As I was finishing my graduate work at the University of Arizona's Department of Hydrology and Water Resources (HWR) in 1975, Stan came aboard as Department Head. He worked incredibly hard, and helped shape HWR into what it is today: the best damn hydrology program in the world.
He was an exemplary hydrogeologist; in 1966 he put himself on the map by authoring (with Roger J.M. DeWiest) the classic textbook Hydrogeology, known as "Davis & DeWiest", which was the standard until R. Allan Freeze and John Cherry penned Groundwater ("Freeze & Cherry") in 1979. Heck, I still refer to Stan's book to this day.
Stan did a lot of different work in ground water; he did anything he did very well. He was a jack-of-all-trades and master of all. Early on, he performed classical ground water resource evaluation work, land subsidence, hydrogeochemistry, etc. For me, he made his mark in tracer/isotope hydrogeology, starting off with the use of chlorofluorocarbon compounds (Freon, et al.) to date ground water. He did seminal work with chlorine and other isotopes (helium, carbon-14, etc.). In fact, he co-authored (with D.J. Campbell, H.W. Bentley, and T.J. Flynn) a book Ground Water Tracers, that provides an excellent state-of-the-art summary as of 1985. He was, without question, one of the giants of hydrogeology. He remained active even after "retirement".
Stan received his BS in geology from the then-Mackay School of Mines (MSM) at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) in 1949. He knew even then that he was interested in ground water. But instruction in ground water was uncommon in those days, especially in a geology department emphasizing hard-rock mining. He told me that he mentioned his nascent interest to the dean of MSM, who, looking puzzled, thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Yes, we need people like you to drain water from mines," (or words to that effect).
Stan "retired" from the Department of HWR in 2004. I attended a combination roast/reunion ("2nd Ephemeral Reunion") in Tucson in May of that year. Fred Phillips, probably Stan's most illustrious student, gave a wonderful roast in which he described Stan's characterization of "beer-can-in-the-hand hydrogeologists". It was hilarious. I don't think I'd ever seen Stan laugh so much.
That's the way I'm going to remember him.
Below is his obituary, published in the Tucson Newspapers (Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen) on 21 November 2007; the link is here.
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Stanley Nelson Davis. Dr. Stanley Nelson Davis, 83, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona and internationally recognized expert in the study of ground water, died November 18, 2007, at his home in Tucson. He was the husband of Augusta Felty Davis. A memorial service will be held at Adair Funeral Home, Avalon Chapel, 8090 N. Northern, on Saturday, November 24, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. Dr. Davis was born August 6, 1924, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his father was researching a cure for yellow fever. He was a son of the late Dr. and Mrs. Nelson Davis. Dr. Davis received a bachelor's degree in geology with a minor in mathematics from the University of Nevada in 1949, a master of science degree in geology from the University of Kansas in 1951, and his doctorate in geology from Yale University in 1955. Dr. Davis served on the faculty of the University of Arizona from 1975 to the present. Dr. Davis also served on the faculty of Stanford University, the University of Chile, the University of Missouri--Columbia, and Indiana University--Bloomington. Additionally, over his career, he was a consultant for the United States Bureau of Reclamation, the Kansas and Missouri geological surveys, the Arctic Institute of North America, Princeton University, and the University Oriente and the University de los Andes, both of Venezuela. He also held numerous appointments during his career. The recipient of multiple honors throughout his career, in 1989 he was presented with the O.E. Meinzer Award by the Geological Society of America, and in 1996 he was made a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Over the course of his career, Dr. Davis was author or coauthor of more than 100 scholarly publications, and coauthor of the seminal textbook "Hydrogeology" with Dr. Roger DeWiest. From 1943-1946, Dr. Davis served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Dr. Davis is also survived by two sons, Gerald N. Davis of York, PA, and Randall W. Davis of Phoenix, four daughters, Ruth Queathem of Pine Bluff, AR, Darlene Binder of Arvada, CO, Betty Jean Davis Voelkel of Tucson, and Nancy F. Davis of Phoenix, and two stepdaughters, Tara de Souza of Phoenix, and Locana de Souza of Tucson. Additionally, Dr. Davis is survived by three brothers, Dr. Donald Davis of Logan, UT, Dr. Irvine Davis of Albuquerque, NM, and Dr. Franklin Davis of Sacramento, CA. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and members of his wife's family. Memorial contributions may be made to World Vision (800-777-5777), a humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and injustice around the world for the benefit of children, families, and communities.
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"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. " -- Sir Winston Churchill
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