William R. Dickinson

Who is William R. Dickinson?

William R. Dickinson is a professor emeritus of geoscience at the University of Arizona and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Prior joining the University of Arizona, Dickinson was a professor at Stanford University. He joined the UofA faculty in 1979.

Dickinson is renowned for his work in plate tectonics, sedimentary geology and Pacific Oceana geology and is considered one of the foremost experts on the geology of the Colorado Plateau. Dickinson is one of the founders of the Gazzi-Dickinson Method and its primary application, QFL diagrams and their use in sandstone provenance.

Dickinson's research includes studying the potsherds of Pacific Oceana. Over the years, he has visited hundreds of Pacific Islands collecting and dating sherds.

As of 2007, he resides in Tucson, Arizona, where he continues to do research and teach at the University of Arizona.