Biographic Sketch for Gail Mahood

Gail ready for first day of kindergarden at Larkspur Corte Madera School in Marin County, California

I was born in 1951 in Oakland, CA, a fourth-generation northern Californian. I attended primary and secondary public schools in Marin County.

I entered U.C. Berkeley in 1969 but dropped out after my freshman year due to financial difficulties and disillusionment. Working full-time as a secretary for a year and a half convinced me to go back to school, which I did at a local junior college, College of Marin. There I took my first geology course; I loved the reasoning involved and the excuse it provided to get dirty. I went on to complete a B.A. in geology at U. C. Berkeley in 1974, followed by a Ph.D. in 1980.

I have been on the faculty at Stanford since 1979, and was promoted to Professor in 1993. I teach upper division and graduate courses in my specialties, volcanology, igneous petrogenesis, and geoarchaeology.

My favorite teaching experiences have involved teaching in the field, including an intensive two-week summer class in Stanford’s Sophomore College on geologic hazards of California that involves a field trip to Mt. Lassen volcano. I also teach two freshman seminars: one that is an introduction to geology that revolves around a field trip to Death Valley and Owens Valley over Spring Break, and the other on volcanism of the Eastern Sierra which culminates in a field trip over Memorial Day weekend. I also teach graduate field seminars in nearby volcanic areas in the Cascades and associated with passage of the Mendocino Triple Junction.

The main research focus of my group is silicic magmatism. My grad students and I study the eruptive histories of volcanoes that have given rise to large, explosive eruptions that spread ash continent-wide, and we determine the chemical and isotopic compositions of the volcanic products as clues to their origin and to the processes that concentrate metals in these bodies. We also study the guts of ancient volcanoes and the granitic bodies they leave behind, exposed on the sides of mountain ranges, in order to understand their plumbing systems. One of the side benefits of the fact that our work is field-based is that we often work in wild, beautiful, and/or interesting locations (e.g., Sierra Nevada, Alaska, high-desert Nevada, Colorado, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Italy).

Geoarchaeological research has always been a sideline of mine, but in recent years it has become more of a focus with the addition of graduate and undergraduate advisees. Our work focuses on the chemical and isotopic characterization of ceramics and obsidian for the purposes of provenance and to determine differential uses in various industries. I am a member of the Executive Committee for the recently established Archaeology Program at Stanford.

For more than a decade I have been heavily involved in University committees and governance. I served on the President's Commission on Undergraduate Education, which transformed the experience of the first two years at Stanford, chaired the University committee that reformed Stanford's grading policy, and wrote the policy that mandated writing experiences within the major. I spent four years as a member of then-Provost Condoleeza Rice’s “Ungroup”, which met weekly for 3 hours to discuss budgets and strategic planning (an eye-opener about the business of a major research institution). In addition I was Chair of the Faculty Senate for a year, chaired my department for three years, and served on the Advisory Board (a group of seven elected faculty who consider appointments, promotions, grievances, and disciplinary cases university-wide) for two two-year terms. In September 2005 I took up the position of Associate Dean for Graduate Policy in the Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Research and Graduate Policy.

Some people (including my husband) wonder why I take on these administrative roles when it so clearly damages my research productivity. The answer is multipart but simple: It has provided the perpetual student in me with the opportunity to learn about a wide range of disciplines and practices. Through my university service I have come in contact with brilliant, interesting people outside my department who have enriched my life and who I otherwise would not have met. Finally, I find it very satisfying when I feel like I have made a positive impact on some aspect of Stanford, the place that took a chance on me when I was only 28 years old and had no track record.

On the personal side: After living for twenty years on-campus, my husband, a geologist who works for the U.S. Geological Survey, and I moved to a townhouse in the nearby town of Menlo Park. Much quieter, but without a garden, I’ve had to let go of my long-term quixotic pursuit of producing an English cottage garden in a Mediterranean climate, and replace it with an interest in native plants.

My serious hobby is dog agility. Other interests include architecture, landscape design, the Arts and Crafts movement (especially William Morris), good food, Gary Snyder poetry, and walking. I’m a member of the Mono Lake Committee and am on the Board of Directors of the Horsepark at Woodside.

Examing fallout deposits from La Primavera volcanic center, near Guadalajara, Mexico, during the course of geologic mapping for her PhD thesis

Gail and her PhD advisor, Professor Ian Carmichael, in 1995 at the award ceremony where his PhD student and her husband, Wes Hildreth, was honored for being named an AGU Fellow.

Giving a lecture on wind-blown sand, waiting for the sun go down over the sand dunes at Death Valley

During a celebration of Wes' 60th birthday, Maddy hitches a ride to the top of Glass Mountain overlooking Long Valley caldera, California.

Aging hippies at a groovy 60's-theme party celebrating the 50th birthdays of Lynn and Susan Orr.

Professors Bob Simoni and John Brauman, looking impish, on their way to the Stanford graduation ceremony in the mid-1990s.

Wes celebrating his 65th birthday at the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Alaska.

Our house, is a very very very fine house, with three dogs in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy . . . .