Mack Gipson, Jr.

Mack Gipson, Jr., was the first African American to receive a doctoral degree in geology from the University of Chicago. As chair of the geological science department at Virginia State University, he trained many earth scientists. Some of these students taught this subject in high school; others went on to receive advanced degrees in geology, a field that had previously been closed to African American scientists.

Mack Gipson, Jr., was born on September 15, 1931, in Trenton, South Carolina, to Artie (Mathis) Gipson and Mack Gipson, Sr. His family worked as sharecroppers. Gipson's grandmother raised him and his sister Margaree, while other family members did the farming. Growing up in the country, Gipson became very interested in rocks and how they were formed. He studied geology in junior high school and then convinced his whole family to move to Augusta, Georgia, where he could complete high school. During that period, rural areas of the South rarely offered blacks a high school education.

With his family's help, Gipson attended Paine College in Atlanta, while working part-time at menial jobs. He first studied English literature but then changed his major to science, with minors in mathematics and education. He received his bachelor's degree from Paine College in 1953. He then spent a year teaching high school mathematics in Madison and then Augusta, Georgia, before being drafted in June 1954. He served as a radio technician in the Army from 1954-56. A friend in Gipson's unit convinced him to pursue graduate studies in geology so that he could work outside rather than being confined to a laboratory or classroom. On completing military service, Gipson married Alma D. Gadison, who had studied with him at Paine College.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the University of Georgia would not accept blacks but paid promising students to pursue their studies at another university that offered the same courses. Gipson attended the University of Chicago on one of these grants. His wife, who had become a psychiatric nurse, helped support them. Gipson worked part-time as a substitute teacher in the Chicago public school system. He also worked as a geologist for the Walter H. Flood Company in Chicago, and he served as a research assistant in the department of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. Gipson received his master's degree in 1961. For his doctoral dissertation, he studied the deeply buried rock layers near the coal fields of central Illinois. Analysis of these rocks required professors of chemistry and physics as well as geology to oversee Gipson's work. His dissertation was entitled A Study of the Relations of Depth, Porosity, and Clay Mineral Orientation in Pennsylvanian Shales. He received his doctoral degree in 1963.

After graduating, Gipson continued to work as geologist with the Walter H. Flood Company, conducting core samples. In core sampling, machines drive a metal sleeve into the ground to collect various layers of soil. Gipson conducted core sampling to select suitable ground for the runways at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. During this period, he also participated in a study of ocean sediment for the University of Chicago. This research examined samples of clay and rock taken from the bottom of the sea to determine how oceans evolved over millions of years.

In 1964, Gipson accepted a position at Virginia State University. He would remain there until 1975, becoming professor and chair of the geological sciences department. While there, Gipson was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to explain pyramid-shaped formations on Mars. He and fellow researchers discovered that sandstorms, which occurred frequently on Mars, had gradually smoothed the sides of extinct volcanoes.

In 1973-74, Gipson took a sabatical to conduct oil exploration for Exxon Company. He then joined the company as a research associate in June 1975. Seismic stratigraphy was the method of oil exploration that he employed. This process makes use of artificially induced waves, simulating an earthquake, to study the lowest layers of rocks. He explored possible oil fields in Alaska, Florida, Mexico, Czechoslovakia, and Pakistan. In 1982, he joined ERCO Petroleum, where he worked on improving the production levels of oil and gas wells. After a six months with Aminoil, Inc., Gipson joined Phillips Petroleum Company as a senior project specialist in 1985. Gipson returned to academia in 1986. In that year, he accepted a position as professor of geology at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia. He taught general geology and did his best to open up careers such as oil exploration to minority students.

Gipson received many awards during his career, including the Elmer Thomas Fellowship in Geology (1961-63) and the Outstanding Scientist Award from the National Consortium for Black Professional Development (1976). His memberships included the Geological Society of America and the National Association of Geology Teachers. Gipson died of cancer in Columbia, South Carolina on March 10, 1995. He was survived by his wife Alma and their four children: Jacquelyn, Deborah, Mack, and Byron.