Gerard Clark Bond, 1940-2005

Gerard Clark Bond, a respected and beloved geologist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and resident of Pearl River, New York died of cancer on Wednesday, June 29. He was 65. Gerard's most recent work at Lamont-Doherty on variations in solar radiation contributed to our fundamental understanding of changes in the Earth's climate system. Gerard was one of the first geologists to recognize the importance of analyzing sediment cores taken from the deep sea for evidence of past climate shifts. This work proved to be the first confirmation that abrupt, short-term warming of the Earth's climate was more common than thought at the time. Most recently, Gerard helped demonstrate that climate changes over the last 10,000 years have been driven largely by solar variability. In 2003, Gerard received the Maurice Ewing Medal from the American Geophysical Union, an award that recognizes significant original contributions to the scientific understanding of the processes in the ocean. At the time of Gerard's death, the paper he and his colleagues published in the journal Science in 2001 had been cited by more than 200 other studies of climate change. Gerard was born on May 20, 1940 in Altus Oklahoma. He received his BS degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio in 1962; his MS from the University of Alaska in 1965; and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1970. All were in geology. After teaching briefly at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. And the University of California, Davis, Gerard came to the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, as it was then known, in 1980 as a research associate and remained here for the rest of his career. Over the past 40 years, Gerard was the author of more than 80 scientific papers, many of them focusing on the causes of periodic, abrupt climate change in the Earth's history. In addition to his most recent position as Doherty Senior Scholar, Gerard was also head of the Lamont Deep-Sea Sample Repository, one of the world's foremost collections of sediment and rock samples from beneath the ocean floor-a collection to which he made many significant contributions. Gerard was also a Fellow of Geological Society of America and helped edit several of his field's most prestigious scientific journals, including Geology, Tectonophysics and Quaternary Science Review. "Frank Purdue was famous for his statement, 'It takes a tough man to produce a tender chicken,'" said Gerard's colleague, Wally Broeker. "Gerard Bond showed that his applied to his world as well. He was a tough many who produced brilliant science." Gerard is survived by his wife Ramona "Rusty" Lotti; children Derek Gerard Bond, Justin Clyde Bond and Alison Dorius Bond; stepchildren Mario Joseph Lotti and Ramona Lotti; and brothers Dwaine Bond and Wendell Bond, both geologists.