William Walden Rubey

Who was William Walden Rubey?

William Walden Rubey was an American geologist.

He was born in Moberly, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri, and in 1920 he graduated with an A.B. degree. During the same year he married Susan Elsie Manovill, and joined the U.S. Geological Survey. He performed his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.

During the Second World War he served as a scientific liaison to the U.S. Army for the Geological Survey. From 1949 until 1950 he was the president of the Geological Society of America. From 1951 until 1954 he was the chairman of the National Research Council for the National Academy of Sciences. In 1960 he was appointed by the president to serve on the National Science Board for the National Science Foundation. The same year he was also appointed professor of geology and geophysics at UCLA, where he would remain until 1966 and be recalled each year thereafter. He served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1956-1964. He also served in many other distinguished posts and positions.

After retiring from the U.S. Geological Survey, he joined the Lunar Science Institute in 1968. He participated in the scientific examination of the Apollo program returned lunar samples up until 1971.