GEOC History
Forty years advancing knowledge of Earth’s chemistry to benefit humanity.
Establishment of the Division
The history of the Division of Geochemistry (GEOC) officially begins on April 1st 1981, when the ACS council voted to grant the division status as a permanent division of the society.
Between 1975 and 1977, a number of concerned members began to express the opinion that geochemistry and geochemists needed to be represented within the ACS as a discrete sub-discipline. Interest in geochemistry was burgeoning at the time and papers related to geochemistry were presented in various symposia hosted by a number of different divisions. In 1978, concerned members, organized by Yeh Fu (Dave) Yen, Earl Baker and Douglas Montgomery, petitioned the Division Activities Committee to establish a new division. The proposal was initially greeted with resistance by several other divisions but ultimately, on September 13th 1987, the division was granted probationary status. Divisional activities began the following year. Yen, Baker and Montgomery became the division’s inaugural officers.
The first official programming of the division was held at the 1979 fall meeting in Washington D.C. From this time forward, the division has held regular programs at all ACS national meetings.
Division Awards
Geochemistry Division Medal
In 1998, at the suggestion of past chair Bob Byrne, the division decided to establish a new award to recognize those who have made extraordinary contributions to our discipline. With the support of seed money from a special grant from ACS President Ed Wassermann, the Geochemistry Division Medal was established, and the first award was presented in 2001.
Geochemistry Travel Award for Graduate Students and Early Career
The division has been giving travel awards for graduate students since 2016. Since 2020, the travel award includes an early career section, which enables early career geochemists (5 years after PhD) to apply for travel funds.
Recognition of the GEOC Division
The division has been recognized many times for innovative/outstanding service to its members. In the 1980s, the division twice won the award for Outstanding Small Division. In 2002, the Division received a ChemLuminary award for outstanding service to the GEOC members.
The GEOC division had a number of members become ACS fellows, including David Dixon (2013), R. Lee Penn (2015), George Luther (2015), Young-Shin Jun (2019), William (Bill) Casey (2019).
Journal Partnership
In 2000, the division launched its fully electronic journal, Geochemical Transactions. The journal was initially published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, but in 2004 publication was taken over by the American Institute of Physics (AIP). Geochemical Transactions was the official journal of the GEOC division until end of 2019. Since 2021, the division has a partnership agreement with the ACS Earth and Space Chemistry journal.
