Preliminary Inventory of the Troy L. Péwé Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2002-02536-2005-03824

Scope and Content Note

This collection houses notes, articles, briefs, reports, maps, instructional files, subject files, slides, field notes, soil survey data, graphics, publications, computer data, drilling logs, computer data, and other materials documenting Troy L. Péwé's teaching career and study of the geology of Arizona, Alaska, the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, the White Mountains, the Lower Salt River Valley, the North McDowell Mountains, Mt. St. Helens, and the Scottsdale Foothills. This collection has not been processed in full and can be viewed only by appointment. Contact Archives and Special Collections for more information.

Dates

Creation: 1902-1999
Creation: Majority of material found within 1940-1999

Language of Materials

Material in English

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Tuesday through Thursday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.

Biographical Note

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Troy Lewis Péwé was born in Rock Island, Illinois on June 28, 1918. He earned his A.B. in Geology at Augustana College (1940), his M.S. in Geology at the University of Iowa (1942), and his Ph.D. in Geology at Stanford University (1952). His doctoral research focused on the history of permafrost in the Fairbanks, Alaska area. Péwé married Mary Jane Hill (1922-2010) on December 21, 1944 and the couple had three children, Richard Hill, David Lee, and Elizabeth Anne (Péwé) Clay.

After earning his M.A., Péwé performed classified research and worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian instructor in map reading and aerial photograph interpretation (1943) and as a research scientist (summers of 1944 and 1945) in Rock Island, Illinois. In 1946, Péwé accepted a position as an instructor in geomorphology at Stanford University and began working with the U.S. Geological Survey as a geologist with the Alaskan Geology Branch and Military Geology Branch (1946-1958). Beginning in 1958, he served as a W.A.E. (When Actively Employed) geologist with the Alaskan Geology Branch.

Péwé became a part-time professor of geology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1954 and was promoted to head of the Department of Geology in 1958. He left Alaska in 1965 to accept a position at Arizona State University. Here, he served as a professor and head of the Department of Geology (1965-1976) and as a professor and director of the Museum of Geology (1976-1999). The University of Alaska, Fairbanks honored Péwé with an honorary doctorate of science in 1991 and named an important research site at Gold Hill the Troy L. Péwé Climatic Change Permafrost Reserve. Troy L. Péwé died in Phoenix, Arizona on October 21, 1999.