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| The origin of the Geophysical Society of Houston dates back to the fall of 1947. On October 7 of that year, Walter J. Osterhoudt was named as temporary Chairman of a Constitutional Committee and Dr. E. E. Rosaire was made Chairman of a Nominating Committee. At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, 1947, 108 geophysicists met in the Houston Engineers Club to form what was then called the Houston Section of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (the name was not changed to the Geophysical Society of Houston until about ten years later). The meeting was called to order by Dr. L. W. Blau who presented the proposed constitution and Dr. Rosaire read the list of officer nominees. The constitution was accepted and Walter Osterhoudt was elected the first President of the Section. On December 2,1947, the Executive Committee of the Houston Section prepared a formal petition for the local section and the formal charter was issued on February 14, 1948. The first technical paper presented at a Houston Section meeting was presented by Wallace C. Thompson on January 16, 1948 and was titled "Geophysics and Geology of the Discovery of the Esperson Domes'. | ||||||||
| On May 28, 1948 the first annual meeting was held at the College Inn and the following excerpt from the proceedings is of particular interest: | ||||||||
| "Following the dinner, the newly elected officers were introduced and installed in office. In mock ceremony, each retiring officer presented to his successor his symbols and equipment of office. The new Treasurer received a shell game to guess where the funds to run the Society will come from; the new Secretary was given a stock of worn out pencils and a supply of fine stationery rolled in its usual form. The Second Vice President, who is the entertainment chairman, received a set of comic books, broken phonograph records, etc.; the new First Vice President, who is program chairman, received a comprehensive list of all people in the area who might be called to write papers for SEG - the Houston telephone directory. The new President was presented with a bottle of SEG soft soap, the president's needle, chisel and eight pound steel maul for a gavel. Of course, each new officer received generous advice." | ||||||||
| Currently the symbol of authority which is passed to the new president at the annual meeting in May is a gold painted spade, upon the handle of which are listed all of the Society's past presidents. | ||||||||
| Initially, meetings were held in the evening at the Engineers Club and later, as the membership grew, meetings convened in the afternoon at the Carter Music Company auditorium. Rapid growth of the Section occurred in the late 1940's when luncheon meetings were inaugurated in downtown Houston hotels. The old Rice Hotel was the usual meeting location until its closure in March, 1975. We can be assured that we will never again see the $1.50 lunch price which the Rice Hotel charged during the mid-1950's. Following the closing of the Rice, various facilities were used in various locations around the city until the Board of Directors, in 1992, chose to locate in Houston Engineering Scientific Society (HESS) - the modern name of the Houston Engineers Club where the Geophysical Society of Houston originated. For a while after 1982, the GSH promoted service companies as sponsors of the bar at luncheon meetings, but the liability assumed by such an arrangement under the "Texas Dram Act" prompted this to be discontinued. Currently, meetings begin in September with the the "Ice-Breaker" and continue on the third Monday of the month through April and end in May with the Annual Awards Dinner and the Annual Meeting at which the officers for the following year are installed. The Society's December activity has become the highly enjoyable Christmas Dinner Dance. | ||||||||
| GSH membership has grown considerably over the years. From the slightly more than 100 original founders the level increased in 1957 to about 700 members and held relatively consistent through 1966. The Society then grew at the steady rate of about 7 percent per year until 1979, when it had about 1600 members. Increased activity in the geophysical industry in 1981-82 accelerated the growth of GSH membership and then modest growth continued until a membership of roughly 2,100 was reached, making the GSH the largest SEG Section in the world. Although that distinction is still true, the industry collapse in the later 1980's has resulted in a reduction in membership to its current level of slightly over 1,700. | ||||||||
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The GSH is honored to have among its members many who have made substantial contributions to the industry and the SEG. At the time of this writing, the GSH has counted among its members, 7 Life members of the SEG, 21 Honorary members of the SEG, 5 Kaufmann Gold Medal winners, 5 Reginald Fessenden Award winners, 3 Maurice Ewing Award winners, 21 former SEG Presidents, and 12 former Editors of Geophysics. The vitality of the GSH is well represented by the honors bestowed upon our members. | |||||||
| In 1980, the GSH was honored to hold the 50th Annual SEG meeting and selected "Geophysics: A Half Century of Progress" as the theme for the meeting. It was most appropriate that the Houston section,as a major element of the SEG was awarded this honor. The 56th Annual SEG Meeting was held in Houston in 1986 and the 61st meeting in 1991. This meeting adopted the popular theme of "Come Home to Houston' and a technical theme of "New Signals in Exploration". This annual meeting attracted over 10,700 delegates from 55 different countries, 339 exhibiting companies occupying 1,171 booths and created a net income of an all time high of $1,547,640 for the SEG. | ||||||||
| The yearly functions of the Society are varied and designed, as our Articles of Incorporation states, ". . .to promote the science and profession of geophysics, (and) to foster fellowship and cooperation among all persons interested in geophysics..." | ||||||||
| An important aspect of the GSH has been in the educational area whereby technical advances and information are made available to the members. The luncheon meetings have usually included a presentation on a current geophysical or geological subject and since 1968 there have been 16 symposia sponsored by the Society on topics of timely interest. They have included such subjects as Direct Hydrocarbon Detection, Velocity, Interpretation, Migration, Energy Sources, Seismic Inversion, and Sub-Salt Imaging. Many of the Continuing Education Series Program sponsored by the SEG also have been presented in Houston and supported by the GSH. Beginning in April, 1985 an annual SEG Gulf Coast meeting was organized to complement the efforts of the SEG Convention in educating our membership. This meeting is held in coordination with other Gulf Coast sections and rotates between them. | ||||||||
| Another means of broadening our educational efforts has been through the activities of special interest groups. In early 1974, the Potential Field Group and the Geophysical Data Processing Group were formed within the Society to promote these areas of expertise. In 1984 a third special group was formed dedicated to the interest of microcomputers in geophysics. The recent addition of the Environmental Applications Special Interest Group has increased the number of SlG's to four. Each of these subgroups hold semi-monthly meetings usually in the evening and present speakers on subjects of interest. | ||||||||
| Over the years many types of social affairs have been held including parties, dances, golf and tennis tournaments, picnics, barbecues, dinners, and all the "fun" things doodlebuggers enjoy. The recent years have usually included a Christmas party as well as a barbecue in May, which also serves as the Annual Meeting. An Awards Dinner is held each spring at which Honorary and Life memberships in the GSH are presented, as well as Silver and Gold Certificates from the SEG. We are usually honored with the President of the SEG serving as guest speaker at that meeting. The social events of the Society have grown such that in 1984, the GSH held the largest single day golf tournament in the city. | ||||||||
| In February of 1967, the Geophysical Auxiliary of Houston was formed by women whose husbands were members or who were themselves members of the GSH. Their activities include several social functions each year and contributions to the Scholarship Fund, plus planning and coordination of the ladies program at SEG conventions held in Houston. | ||||||||
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In 1981 the GSH received a bequest from the estate of Dave P.Carlton, a former President of the Society. The bequest was in the form of cash and stock and it is believed to be the first time a deceased member willed such a substantial amount to the society. | |||||||
| Using a part of the Carlton bequest, the GSH established a $3000 per year SEG scholarship known as the Carlton Scholarship. The SEG scholarship program, which was initiated in 1956, is also supported by GSH with a $1000 per year scholarship, which is specifically designated for a student who is a resident of the Houston area, and by a $2000 per year scholarship in memory of W. Harry Mayne, a GSH member who contributed so much to our profession before he passed away on April 7, 1990. Since 1982, the GSH has provided 2 additional $1000 scholarships bringing total GSH scholarship support to $8000 per year. This active support of the geophysical industry and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists has resulted in the Geophysical Society of Houston becoming the largest of the SEG Section Trustee Associates, contributing through 1994 over $23,000. Since 1959, the Society also has supplied financial assistance in obtaining college education to largely earth science students through interest-free loans. In addition, for many years members have given talks at local high schools on subjects relating to geophysics and have acted as judges for science and engineering fairs. | ||||||||
| A museum containing geophysical instruments of historical interest is maintained by the Society. Collection of the first pieces of equipment began in 1961 and now comprises over 700 items, some dating back to the middle 1920's and contributed by over 50 companies. The original instruments were stored in garages, but in 1971 they were housed in a portable building located on the GeoData Services' property. The building, which serves as storage and workshop, was moved to the Geosource, Inc. facilities and in the fall of 1979 a permanent display of a portion of the equipment was installed in the lobby area at Geosource. | ||||||||
| In 1989 through the generosity of Western-Atlas, GSH acquired the use of "weatherproof" quarters for restoring old equipment for display. The GSH has loaned some of the old instruments for the permanent oil industry exhibit section at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, as well as to the Smithsonian Institution and other museums. In 1993 industry change forces the GSH to find new quarters to exhibit the museum places and a permanent home was found in the Winship Building of the North Harris College. A reception in honor of the formal opening of the new museum was held March 3, 1994. The museum activity has incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization under the name of the Geophysical Society of Houston Museum Foundation, Inc. and is currently active in providing the funding and manpower required to increase the museum and possibly establish a permanent, larger facility. | ||||||||
| The GSH has operated as a non-profit organization since it was founded in 1947, and it was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas effective February 16, 1981. Effective on April 30, 1993 the State of Texas issued a certificate to the Society designating the GSH as a foundation under Section 509 (A-2) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, making it tax exempt and providing that grantors and contributors to the GSH can deduct such contributions from their tax liabilities. The 1995 directory is the eighteenth to be published. Previous issues were produced in 1955/56, 1958, 1967, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994. | ||||||||
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