Distinguished Alumni

Jay Quade

One of the outstanding field geologists of the modern day, Jay Quade has provided great insight into the geochemistry of the near-surface (surficial) environment. His Ph.D. work set the stage to document isotope diffusion as the determining factor in soil carbonate profiles. He followed this with work in the Siwaliks of Pakistan and showed that major ecosystem changes, including the expansion of C4 grasslands, are recorded in soils through both d13C and d18O isotopic analysis.

In his distinguished faculty career at the University of Arizona beginning in 1992, he continued to pursue isotope change along the length of the Himalaya. This is the best documented ecological change showing the transition from the mid-Miocene "C₃-World" to the Plio-Pleistocene "C₄-World."

Quade has made many contributions since then in many aspects of surficial geochemistry, but a few highlights include the following:

— Strontium isotopes to study calcrete formation and documenting movement of goods by early American cultures in the USA

— Studying packrat middens as long-term climate records

— The Quaternary history in the Yucca Mountain region for implications for nuclear waste disposal

— Demonstrating how earthquakes can influence surface weathering of boulders in desert regions (a very fun read)

— Clumped isotope applications in soils and paleosols

— Conventional and clumped isotopes in paleoaltimetry studies (pioneering work with Carmie Garzione)

Widely Recognized

A celebrated geoscience polymath, Quade has been widely recognized in the sector. He is the recipient of the 2018 Arthur L. Day Medalist from the Geological Society of America in 2018 recognizing “outstanding distinction in the application of physics and chemistry to the solution of geologic problems," and a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He has had visiting faculty positions at Hebrew University and the University of Tokyo.

Scopus, the multidisciplinary abstract and citation database produced by Elsevier lists Quade’s 220 publications with nearly 22,000 citations, and an "h-index’" of 78. His contribution to science extends far beyond these metrics with the creativity and care he demonstrates and instills in colleagues and mentees every day.

Through all this work, Quade has been engaged in multiple collaborations, showing enormous generosity of his time and sharing his experience and field sites.

The 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Jay Quade by the Department of Geology & Geophysics March 6 by a committee that included Marjorie Chan, professor emerita; Pete Lippert, associate professor; Thure Cerling, distinguished professor; Cari Johnson, professor; Kip Solomon, distinguished professor and interim department chair; Ashley Herman, program manager.

This story originally appeared on the website of the University of Utah's Department of Geology & Geophysics.

With positions in the Branch of Seismology, the Branch of Earthquake and Geomagnetic Information, and the Geologic Hazards Team, he became the Technical Manager of the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) which oversees and coordinates seismic network operations throughout the US. In 2022 the Department of Geology & Geophysics recognized him with the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

In 2003, Benz was appointed ANSS Megaproject Chief, overseeing the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) which is the world’s pre-eminent seismic monitoring system. Benz also played a role in the modernization of earthquake operations within the participating seismic networks, after co-authoring “An Assessment of Seismic Monitoring in the United States,” the 1999 Congressional Report that led to the formation and funding of the ANSS. The success of ANSS was due in no small part due to Benz’ ability to engender trust and respect from the regional network operators who were essential to the program’s success, according to the commendations from his colleagues.

Benz is credited with helping to modernize USGS earthquake analyses, reporting procedures and facilities, in particular revising the data processing and operations at NEIC to become less labor intensive and more automated. Under his leadership, rapid notifications, web services and data feeds became routine as ways to rapidly disseminate earthquake information to government agencies, emergency managers, the media and the general public. NEIC now processes continuous data from more than 2,200 seismic stations contributed by more than 145 seismic networks across the globe.

Benz’ use of innovative communication products, especially ArcGIS StoryMaps, demonstrate his commitment to sharing earthquake science. The use of story maps to place complex events into tectonic and seismological context so that they are understandable to a broad audience has been equally groundbreaking in classrooms and newsrooms, according to Benz’ colleagues. (The story map created for the 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, earthquake sequence is one such example.)

Along with his mentorship of dozens of graduate students, postdoctoral students and early career scientists, Benz forged a number of international partnerships during his time at USGS. He aided in the development of the Caribbean and N4 networks and expansion of the Global Seismographic Network, and expanded ties with the nuclear test ban treaty monitoring community that analyzes global seismic signals through the International Monitoring System (IMS). High-quality digital data from each of these networks is now available in real-time for NEIC, as a result of his efforts.

A native of Georgia, Benz earned his BS in geophysics from the University of Kansas and has been involved in a broad range of research and applications in earthquake seismology. This includes imaging earth structure, earthquake detection, modeling of seismic sources, and near-real-time location and moment-tensor calculation to inform earthquake disaster response. Additionally, the range of his work extends to measurement and prediction of strong ground motion; seismic discrimination between natural seismicity and nuclear explosions; understanding earthquake swarms; induced seismicity and its implications for seismic hazard; seismic network operations; and generation and management of earthquake catalogs. His expertise and knowledge in these areas have informed his continual efforts to educate college students and the general public about earthquake hazards.

In addition to educating college students—most recently as an adjunct professor at the U during the 2021-2022 academic year—Benz has also been an exceptional leader in meeting USGS’s missions to quantify seismic hazards and to inform national, state, and local governments, private industry, and the general public about such earthquake hazards and their mitigation.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is given regularly by the Department of Geology & Geophysics. This past fall David Braxton MS’97 was announced as the 2023 recipient. His profile will appear in an upcoming issue of Down to Earth.

College of Science

Jay Quade, Distinguished Alumnus

Jay Quade, Distinguished Alumnus

The Department of Geology and Geophysics is thrilled to present Jay Quade, Ph.D. '90, with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni award.

Widely Recognized

Harley Benz Distinguished Alumnus

2022 DistinGuished AlumnUS

Among the nation’s preeminent earthquake seismologists, Harley Benz MS’82, PhD’86, scientist emeritus at the US Geological Survey (USGS)’s Earthquake Hazards Program, first worked at the USGS in Menlo Park, California, and then, beginning in 1993, in Golden, Colorado.