William Back (geologist)

William Back
Born(1925-08-09)August 9, 1925
East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 31, 2008(2008-01-31) (aged 82)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
SpouseConnie Back (m. 1951)
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (AB)
University of California, Berkeley (MS)
Harvard University (MPA)
University of Nevada, Reno (PhD)
ThesisChemical hydrogeology of the carbonate peninsulas of Florida and Yucatán (1969)
Doctoral advisorGeorge Burke Maxey
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Irvine
National Fuel Cell Research Center

William “Bill” Back (August 9, 1925 – January 31, 2008) was an American hydrogeologist and geochemist. He made significant contributions to the study of ground water geochemistry, karst hydrogeology, and the evolution of carbonate aquifers. He was a scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from 1946 to 1997.[1]

Early life and education

Back was born on August 9, 1925, in East St. Louis, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in geology in 1948 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He later completed a Master of Science in geology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1956.[2]

In 1969, he earned a Ph.D. in hydrogeology from the University of Nevada, Reno under the direction of George Burke Maxey, co-founder of the hydrogeology division of the Geological Society of America. His thesis studied the carbonate hydrogeology of the Florida peninsula and the Yucatán Peninsula.

Career

Back began working with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1946 while still an undergraduate, holding summer appointments in Washington, California, and Alaska. He was a scientist on the National Research Program in hydrologic sciences at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia until his retirement in 1997.

His influential early research focused on hydrochemical facies, advancing the concept of interpreting groundwater chemistry by mapping its evolution along flowpaths.[3] He became especially known for his work on carbonate aquifer systems and karst hydrogeology, collaborating extensively with Bruce B. Hanshaw and other geologists. Their investigations in Florida, Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and the Iberian Peninsula[4] studied groundwater flow, chemical thermodynamics, radiocarbon dating, and geochemical modeling.[5][6] Back and Hanshaw received the Meinzer Award in 1973 for their work on carbonate systems.[7]

Back also contributed to research on contaminated aquifers, North American hydrogeology, and the effects of water resources on Native American communities.[8] He served as an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University from 1975 to 1986.

Internationally, Back was active in the IInternational Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), serving as chairman of its Karst Commission. He helped foster scientific exchange between hydrogeologists in the Western world and China. In 1981 he participated in establishing a cooperative agreement between the USGS and China's Ministry of Natural Resources, and he played a significant role in international collaboration leading up to the 1988 IAH Congress in Guilin, China.[9] He was also appointed to the UNESCO Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Back was a fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA), where he led the hydrogeology division and served as division secretary and treasurer from 1964 to 1966 and later as chair in 1986. In 2008, the division established the Bill Back Graduate Student Research Award in his honor.

Personal life

Back was married to Connie Back for 57 years. They had four children.

Awards

Books

  • Contemporary Hydrogeology: The George Burke Maxey Memorial Volume. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1979. ISBN 978-0444418566[11]
  • Hydrogeology: The Geology of North America. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America, 1988. ISBN 978-0813752068[12]
  • Chemical Hydrogeology (Benchmark Papers in Geology, Vol. 73). Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, 1992. ISBN 978-0879334406[13][14]

References

  1. ^ Herman, Janet S.; Baedecker, Mary Jo (February 2008). "Memorial to William "Bill" Back (1925-2008)" (PDF). The Geological Society of America. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  2. ^ Baedecker, Mary Jo; Wood, Warren W. (March 2009). "William "Bill" Back: An Incisive Geochemist and a Great Mentor". Groundwater. 47 (2): 314–318. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00534.x. ISSN 0017-467X. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  3. ^ Congress, International Association of Hydrogeologists International (1985). Hydrogeology of Rocks of Low Permeability. a committee of U.S.A. members of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  4. ^ Back, William; Hanshaw, Bruce B.; Herman, Janet S.; Van Driel, J. Nicholas (1986). "Differential dissolution of a Pleistocene reef in the ground-water mixing zone of coastal Yucatan, Mexico". Geology. 14 (2): 137–140. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<137:DDOAPR>2.0.CO;2. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  5. ^ New Publications of the Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey. 1989. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  6. ^ Weston, Thomas Chesmer (1899). Reminiscences Among the Rocks in Connection with the Geological Survey of Canada. Warwick bro's & Rutter. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  7. ^ Heindl, Leo. "Presentation of the O. E. Meinzer Award to William Back and Bruce B. Hanshaw" (PDF). Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  8. ^ Back, William (1957). "Geology and ground-water features of the Smith River Plain, Del Norte County, California". US Geological Survey (1254). U.S. Govt. Print. Off. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  9. ^ Daoxian, Yuan; Back, William; Booth, William (March 1, 1991). "News Reports". Episodes Journal of International Geoscience. 14 (1): 77–85. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/1991/v14i1/012. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  10. ^ "M. King Hubbert Award recipients". National Ground Water Association. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  11. ^ Back, William; Stephenson, D. A. (1979). Contemporary Hydrogeology: The George Burke Maxey Memorial Volume. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-444-41669-8. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  12. ^ Back, William; Rosenshein, Joseph S.; Seaber, Paul R. (1988). Hydrogeology: The Geology of North America. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. ISBN 9780813752068.
  13. ^ Back, William. Chemical Hydrogeology (Hardcover). Benchmark Papers in Geology, Vol. 73. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. ISBN 9780879334406.
  14. ^ "9780879334406: Chemical hydrogeology (Benchmark papers in geology. Volume 73) | BookScouter.com". bookscouter.com. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
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