Ben van der Pluijm Graduate Student Research Grant Award
The purpose of the Fund is to support graduate student research in the fields of structural geology and tectonics.
A personal appeal from Ben van der Pluijm:
I received a GSA research grant in 1981 for my first (rainy) field summer working on the structure of the New World Island in the Newfoundland Appalachians. At the time, it was a most helpful $650. The recognition made a lasting impression on my subsequent professional career, which involved ~40 graduate students. Most received their own GSA graduate research grants.
Since completing my PhD, I have modestly contributed to the GSA student research fund, remembering the impact my grant once had.
Upon retiring from the University of Michigan over 40 years later, I decided to make a greater contribution.
In that spirit, I started the Ben van der Pluijm Graduate Student Research Fund, which will be under the purview of the GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division. I trust it will mature in the next couple of years, so one or more annual research awards will be made to deserving students.
I am personally matching all gifts up to $10,000 total. If you would prefer to donate by check, write “VDP Fund” in the memo line and send it to: GSA Foundation, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301.
