Distinguished Alumni Award

2025 Recipient - Dr. Jay Quade

We are thrilled to present Dr. Jay Quade  (Ph.D. 1990) with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni award for the Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Jay is one of the outstanding field geologists of the modern day and has provided great insight into the geochemistry of the near-surface environment. His Ph.D. work set the stage to document isotope diffusion as the determining factor in soil carbonate profiles. He followed this with work in the Siwaliks of Pakistan and showed how major ecosystem change was recorded in soils both in d¹³C and d¹⁸O space.

In his distinguished faculty career at the University of Arizona since 1992, he continued to pursue isotope change along the length of the Himalaya. This is the best documented ecological change showing the transition from the mid-Miocene "C₃-World" to the Plio-Pleistocene "C₄-World". 

Jay has made many contributions since then in many aspects of surficial geochemistry. But a few highlights include:

• Strontium isotopes to study calcrete formation and documenting movement of goods by early American cultures in the USA;
• Studying packrat middens as long-term climate records;
• The Quaternary history in the Yucca Mountain region for implications for nuclear waste disposal;
• Demonstrating how earthquakes can influence surface weathering of boulders in desert regions (a very fun read);
• Clumped isotope applications in soils and paleosols;
• Conventional and clumped isotopes in paleoaltimetry studies (pioneering work with Carmie Garzione); and more! Jay is a geoscience polymath.

As an award-winning geoscientist, Jay is the recipient of the 2018 Arthur L. Day Medalist from the Geological Society of America in 2018 recognizing “outstanding distinction in the application of physics and chemistry to the solution of geologic problems.” Jay is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has had visiting faculty positions at Hebrew University and the University of Tokyo.

Scopus lists Professor Quade’s 220 publications with nearly 22,000 citations, and an ‘h-index’ of 78. Jay’s contribution to science extends far beyond these metrics with the creativity and care he demonstrates and instills in colleagues and mentees every day.

Through all this work, Jay has been engaged in multiple collaborations, showing enormous generosity of his time, and sharing his experience and field sites.

The Department is proud to name Jay Quade Alumni of the Year for 2025. Congratulations, Jay!

 

CREDIT TO:

Marjorie Chan | Emeritus of Geology & Geophysics

Pete Lippert | Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics 

Thure Cerling | Distinguished Professor of Geology & Geophysics 

Cari Johnson | Professor of Geology & Geophysics 

Kip Solomon | Professor of Geology & Geophysics 

Ashley Herman | Program Manager with Geology & Geophysics 

Photo Credit: Todd Anderson with the College of Science