Geosciences

The following endowments provide important supplementary support for the Walter Geology Library acquisitions and operations. These funds contribute significantly to making valuable geology information resources available to University of Texas students and faculty, as well as to geoscience researchers nationally and internationally.

Walter Fund This fund was established by J. C. "Joe" Walter, Jr. and his wife Elizabeth C. Walter in 1981, and it is the primary endowment support fund for the Walter Library. Investment proceeds provide major supplemental support for acquisitions and for facilities upgrades. The Walter Family also contributed $1.1 million towards the 2003 renovation and expansion of the Walter Library.  See biography of J.C. Walter, below.
Barrow Fund This fund, endowed in 1995 by Mrs. Laura Barrow and her son, Dr. Thomas Barrow, supports the purchase of geoscience periodicals, especially those relating to energy. The Barrow Family has a long and distinguished history of support of The University of Texas at Austin, particularly the geosciences programs.
Chernoff Family Library Fund for Geophysics and Earth System Sensing Family members of Charlie N. Chernoff established this fund in 2005 to support library information in geophysics and remote sensing. Charlie Chernoff retired from Chevron as Chief Geophysicist in 1992. He was born in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, and completed his earth science education at the University of Saskatchewan. Chernoff started his career doing geological field mapping for Standard Oil. In 1960, he transitioned into geophysics, where he remained for the next 32 years. Chernoff's career encouraged several family members to pursue the geosciences. His brother, Michael Chernoff, has been a major contributor to the petroleum industry in Canada and Ecuador. Michael's son, Bruce Chernoff,works in the petroleum industry, as does Charlie's daughter, Dr.Carlotta Chernoff, who holds a doctorate in earth sciences. Two other Chernoffs, Michael's daughter Cathy and Charlie's daughter Cheryl, graduated from the School of Architecture at UT Austin.
Tobin Fund Established in 1980 by Tobin Research of San Antonio, this fund pays for all purchases for the Geology Library's map collection. All other materials are received through depository or exchange programs. The Tobin Fund has permitted the Geology Library to acquire some outstanding map materials and atlases. Investment proceeds from the endowment also support student assistants who catalog most of the collection, as well as the purchase of equipment, furniture, and supplies for the Map Room.
Wendtlandt Fund Proceeds are used to purchase geoscience publications in German language or translations from German.
Whitney Fund Established in 1963 with an initial anonymous donation, the Whitney fund supports the purchase of paleontology materials, including micropaleontology, invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology, paleobiology and paleoecology.
Michael A. Wiley Hydrogeology Library Fund This fund was established in 2005 with an initial donation (and subsequent estate gift) from Michael A. Wiley, and contributions from a number of donors including the Hood-Barrow Foundation, Ken Barrow, John M. Sharp, and others. The Fund supports the acquisition of water-related information, including but not limited to groundwater and surface water processes, theory and modeling, urban hydrology and hydrogeology, recharge and remediation, water policy and economics, transboundary and interbasin water development and transfer, and hydroinformatics.
Climate Studies Fund Funded in 2012 by Jackson School staff member Debra Sue and Brian Trinque, this fund assists the library in acquiring information dealing with all aspects of climate studies.

*** While the geology librarian position is vacant, the library is not accepting any drop-off gifts or evaluating materials in JSG offices. ***

The Walter Library collection has been built over the decades via two main routes:  purchased acquisitions and donations of materials.  However, the limitations of space and staff, and the real costs of processing, require that the Library be very selective when agreeing to review and accept donated materials.

In general, the library may review and possibly accept these kinds of materials as long as they're in good condition and within the collecting scope of the Geology Library:

• Published monographs, reports, conferences not already held (detailed list required in advance)
• Recent (<10 years) and current textbooks in good/new condition
• Extended and complete runs of scholarly periodicals not already held and not available online
• Maps (geologic only) in good condition, not already held

Before accepting large donations, or donations containing obscure or foreign language materials, we may request an add-on monetary donation to defray the costs of cataloging.

We cannot review or accept these things:

• Duplicate materials
• Anything in poor or fragile condition
• Miscellaneous or random issues of periodicals, journals, newsletters
• Manuscripts; unpublished materials; personal papers; or company records (we are not an archive)
• Well logs or instrument outputs (contact the Bureau of Economic Geology)
• Electronic media (CD-ROMs; tapes; flash/hard drives; data files, e.g. PDFs, JPEGs, TIFFs etc.)
• Non-textual objects (rocks, fossils, specimens, instruments, etc)
• Unsolicited large donations (uncataloged boxes)

Library staff are no longer available to do faculty office clean-outs.

If you have any questions, please contact the Geology Librarian for further information.

Geosciences alumni of the University of Texas from the late 1940's and early 1950's were a remarkable cohort. They were brought up in a Texas transitioning from “cows and cotton” to industry and petrochemicals. They were forged in the twin crucibles of depression and war, and whether or not they were directly touched by those events, their characters and values were guided by broader historical lessons. They were trained by excellent faculty and mentors to think about geology with precision, preparation, persistence and innovation - particularly the latter. Geology at this time was in the midst of a major transition as well - from an observational to an analytical science, and new technologies (another unintended consequence of war) would soon enable major theoretical and practical breakthroughs.

Joseph Charles Walter, Jr., or Joe as he was widely known, was a Houston native, the son of Gladys Hoskins and Joseph Charles Walter, Sr., an oil and gas landman.  From a petroleum geology perspective, he started with certain advantages.  Born on October 7, 1927, he graduated from Lamar High School and UT Austin with a Petroleum Engineering BS degree in 1949, and an MA in Geology in 1951.

His thesis, done under R.K. DeFord, was titled Paleontology of the Rustler Formation, Culberson County, Texas, and identified Permian invertebrates, among which was Derbya sulcata Walter. n. sp., now the image on the bookplate that bears his name.

Combining his petroleum engineering background with a paleontology study demonstrated the acuity of Joe's analytical foresight. It led him to an expertise in both hydrocarbon fluids and the unique rock materials that contain them as specific products of spatial, temporal, and biological processes.

Early Career and Success

Joe did a six-year apprenticeship with Jersey Standard/Humble, honing his analytical skills further in evaluating oil reserves - crucial training for his later successes. During this period, he made two significant life changes, marrying Elizabeth Cowden from Midland (BS, UT Austin, 1951), and deciding that he did not want to spend his life behind a desk in a huge company.

In 1957, after daughter Carol Walter Looke and son J. C. Walter III (Rusty) were born, Joe set up shop in association with his father's business, Houston Royalty Company. Within the span of a few years, Joe Sr. and his partner Irwin Smith died, Joe (Jr.) and his partners bought controlling interest in, and later merged with, Royalties Management Co. from Tulsa. This gave him the capital base to begin his real enterprise - exploration for oil and gas.

As detailed by Jack Donahue in The Finest in the Land, Joe’s excellent skills and preparation in assessing reserves served him well. His new company, Houston Oil and Minerals, went public in the late 1960s. After flirting with the refining business, Joe took a long shot on a gas play in the Frio of Galveston Bay and got a big boost, permitting the company to go international. Again, Joe was successful, working the North Sea, Africa, Middle East, South America and Australia, where he got into and out of the coal business. At the same time, writes Donahue, Houston Minerals Corp., a subsidiary, was building the fourth largest mineral position in the US. Meanwhile, the company got into and out of the Baltimore Canyon play without losing money, and the little startup now had five divisions and 1400 employees. Joe Walter, by this time suffering from heart disease, was stuck behind a desk at a big company, and exactly where he did not want to be. In 1981 he arranged a merger with Tenneco, had a heart transplant at Methodist Hospital performed by Dr. Jimmy Howell, and attempted to retire, but within two years, as head of Walter Oil and Gas and president of the Petroleum Club in Houston, he was back making deals.

Beyond Career Life

For the rest of his life, Joe continued his business interests with Walter International and Walter Oil and Gas International, but he also had time for other pursuits. He has been widely acknowledged as a major force behind Houston's Methodist Hospital and Methodist Health Care system, and St. Luke's United Methodist Church. He loved to hunt birds on his “farm” near Brownwood; he was an avid woodworker, and, most crucially, was a great friend of the University of Texas at Austin. Joe received many honors from The University of Texas and has given us many as well.  He died on June 14, 1997.

Awards, Honors, and Donations

University of Texas at Austin Awards and Honors

• Distinguished Graduate (Engineering) 1977
• Distinguished Graduate (Geology) 1984
• Distinguished Alumnus 1985
• Hall of Honor (College of Natural Sciences) 1995
• Hall of Distinction (Geology) 2006

Walter Family Donations

• Seven endowed chairs, professorships, and scholarships in Engineering and Geology
• Houston Oil and Minerals / Walter Faculty Award
• JC Walter Jr., and EC Walter Geology Library Endowment
• Renovation funding for Walter Library from the Walter Family

It is the last two items that deserve special attention here. In 1984, when the Walters endowed the Geology Library, the collection was strong, but the worlds of geology, publishing, and academic libraries were poised on the brink of enormous changes. The Walter gift gave the Library the opportunity to reach for excellence and growth at the very time when market forces caused the geological sciences and most university libraries, including The University of Texas, to begin to shrink. The late 1980s and early 1990s were a hard time for libraries in particular, with prices rapidly rising, expensive technological developments, constricting budgets, and painful decisions to be made in every budget cycle. The Walters’ analytical foresight allowed their namesake collection to forge ahead into new thematic areas and wider coverage, and these ambitions drew more resources, particularly from the Barrow family, the Chernoff family, and many alumni who benefitted from this great information resource and wanted to give back.

In 2001, when Jack Jackson's initial gift was put to work to add on to the Geology Building, Elizabeth C. Walter Keeney, Carol Looke and JC Walter III (Rusty) stepped forward again with funding to renovate and refurbish the Walter Library, further positioning it as a leading earth sciences information source for the 21st century.

Joe, described by his peers as the archetypal wildcatter, made his own luck one last time, with the quiet foresight and thoughtful generosity that were his trademarks. We who benefit daily from this library are thankful to Joe, his family, and his friends - our alumni and supporters, for all they have done.

References

Donahue, Jack , 1984. The Finest in the Land: the Story of the Petroleum Club of Houston. Houston: Gulf Pub. Co.

Murray, Thomas J, 1974. “The Quiet Wildcatter,” Dun’s v.103(6) 64-67.

Sterba, James P, 1977. “Houston Oil: a Skyrocketing Wildcatter Comes of Age,” New York Times, Nov. 6, p.F-3.

Texas Alliance of Energy Producers Presents the Houston Legends honoring J.C. Walter, Jr., Judge E.E. Townes and Herman P. Pressler, Jr. Master of Ceremony Therman Andrews. 11/1/2005, 4pp.

Walter, Joseph C. 1951. Paleontology of the Rustler Formation, Culberson County, Texas. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin. 93pp. [View in Texas ScholarWorks]

Walter Oil and Gas Corporation.  A Dynamic History. http://www.walteroil.com/about-walter-oil-gas/dynamic-history.html

by Dennis Trombatore

July 2008