John W. Geissman: Never Let the You‐Know‐Who's Get You Down—There Is Too Much in Life to Experience and Learn From!

Abstract My life in science, as a faculty member in Higher Education (The Academy), and as a proud member of AGU, reflects the fact that I am one of the very fortunate ones in the Geosciences who went through undergraduate and graduate years during the true blossoming of the science in the early years after the acceptance of Plate Tectonics. The 1970s and early 1980s were a time when faculty positions in the Geosciences, at institutions around the world, were, relatively speaking, very plentiful and provided a most rewarding career. It was almost as if administrators in higher education thought highly of the geosciences! Concurrently, geoscience majors were pretty much assured of good employment. As you will read, my life in The Academy included a many bumps, many surprises, and many interactions with most fascinating individuals. Much has changed since the early 1980s, including the place of the geosciences in Higher Education, and that is of great concern to this author, as geoscience contributions to understanding Earth processes have literally exploded. In addition, the role of the Geosciences in transitioning to a very new global culture of human sustainability, including the required reduction of our dependency on fossil energy, have never been more important. The current and future geoscience professoriate will play a key role in the needed transition.