University of Colorado at Boulder geological sciences Associate Professor Paul Weimer has been named the Bruce D. Benson Endowed Chair of Petroleum Geology, pending approval by the CU Board of Regents Aug. 5.
Weimer, a petroleum geologist, has played a key role in mapping underwater sites in the northwest Gulf of Mexico in partnership with several private oil companies in recent years. He specializes in seismic and sequence stratigraphy and basin analysis and their applications to petroleum exploration and development.
The $3 million Bruce D. Benson Endowed Chair in Geological Sciences is the first endowed chair in the College of Arts and Sciences. The $3 million gift was made by Bruce Benson and his wife, Marcy Benson.
Serving on the Board of Directors of the CU Foundation from 1990 to 1996, Benson chaired the $14.5 million building fund drive for the Benson Earth Sciences Building and donated $3 million to the construction of the building.
"We greatly appreciate the generosity of Bruce and Marcy Benson, who have made this chair possible," said CU-Boulder College of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Spear. "I am delighted that the first recipient is Paul Weimer, one of our own world-class faculty in petroleum geology. This chair will help us maintain and build on our strengths in this field."
Benson, a 1964 graduate of CU-Boulder, majored in petroleum geology and is currently the owner and president of the Benson Mineral Group, Inc., and president and CEO of the Board of United States Exploration, Inc., a public company. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1994 and former chair of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.
In recognition of his service to the University of Colorado, he was awarded the University Medal by the CU Board of Regents in May 1999.
The Benson Chair is the fourth endowed chair at CU-Boulder. The others are the Glen Murphy Chair in engineering, the James and Catherine Patton Chair in chemical engineering and the Rothgerber Chair in the CU law school. Any endowed chair requires minimum funding of $1.5 million or more, depending on the academic discipline, said Betsey Jay, vice president of communications for the CU Foundation.
An endowed gift is invested by the University of Colorado Foundation and a portion of the earnings are expended each year for the chair, program or scholarship endowed by the donor, said Jay. The remaining earnings are re-invested in the fund so that it retains its full value over time.
With 23 professors, CU-Boulder is among the largest geological sciences departments in the country.
Weimer also directs the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center at CU-Boulder and is associate chair of the geological sciences department. He holds a bachelor聮s degree from Pomona College, in Claremont, Calif., a master聮s degree from CU-Boulder and a doctorate in geology from the University of Texas at Austin.