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Get to Know Your GSA Foundation Board

The GSA Foundation Board of Trustees is a group of volunteer Farouk El-Baz returns to the Foundation
leaders—prominent and dedicated geologists—who govern the board, on which he previously served from
Foundation. We are fortunate that their multi-year terms, often 1999–2009. He is seasoned in fundraising
renewed for a second consecutive span, provide a stable contin- efforts on behalf of GSA, since he also served
uum to ensure transparent, cost-effective operations, open com- on the Second Century committee in the mid-
munication with the Society, and prudent fund management. We nineties, including as campaign co-chair for
would like to introduce you to our two newest Trustees, who two years. Many of you are aware of two
joined the board in the last year. awards he established with GSAF: The El-Baz
Lydia Fox is associate professor of geologi- Desert Research Award recognizes an out-
cal & environmental sciences at the standing body of work by a young scientist in warm desert research,
University of the Pacific and also the director and the El-Baz Research Grant supports desert studies by students
of undergraduate research. A recipient of either in the senior year of their undergraduate studies or at the mas-
Pacific’s Distinguished Faculty Award and ter’s or Ph.D. level. Years before his deep involvement with GSA,
the Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award, Farouk received a B.S. in chemistry and geology from Ain Shams
Lydia is passionate about teaching and con- University in Egypt. His M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are from
necting undergraduates to research opportu- University of Missouri and MIT. He went on to work in Egypt’s oil
nities. Lydia received her B.S.E. in geological industry before becoming secretary of lunar-landing site selection
engineering from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in geological in the Apollo program. From the early 1970s and into the 1980s,
sciences from the University of California Santa Barbara and ini- he established and directed the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for
tially worked as a field engineer for Schlumberger Well Services Earth and Planetary Studies and served as science advisor to the late
and then as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. Farouk stepped into the corporate
Park before teaching at California State University, Northridge. world for several years at Itek Optical Systems before moving on to
While department chair at Pacific, Lydia facilitated the addition of a 30-year tenure at Boston University. His awards, honors, fellow-
a major in environmental sciences and has been the director of the ships, and board memberships are numerous, reflecting an esteemed
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program since 2004. Her career across both the United States and Egypt and not the least of
research is in the area of Mesozoic granites and hydrothermal which include eight honorary doctoral degrees, chairmanship of the
alteration. She remains deeply involved in her field: Lydia is an U.S. National Committee for Geological Sciences, and NASA’s
active member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), Apollo Achievement Award.
and she is currently the chair of the Field Camp Scholarship Both of our new Trustees bring invaluable experience and
Committee for the National Association of Geoscience Teachers expansive insight to the Foundation. We hope you will have the
and serves on the Executive Committee of the Education Section opportunity to meet and talk with them through various GSAF
of the American Geophysical Union. activities over the coming years.

www.gsa-foundation.org

30 GSA Today | February 2021