John M. Hunt
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow
the death July 23, 2005 of Scientist Emeritus John M. Hunt of
Falmouth at the Royal Nursing Center in Falmouth after a brief
illness. He was 86.
John Meacham Hunt was born December 1, 1918 in Cleveland, Ohio. He
received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Western Reserve
University in 1941, a master’s degree in petroleum chemistry from
Pennsylvania State University in 1943 and a Ph.D. in organic
chemistry from Penn State in 1946. During his doctoral studies he
worked as an assistant in petroleum refining, analyzing gasolines from
worldwide refineries for toluene to make TNT, the development of
aviation lubricants and hydraulic fluids, and liquid-liquid extraction
columns for hydrocarbon purification. After completing his
doctorate, he served as an instructor in chemistry and worked under
contract with Esso Research to develop a process to polymerize
propylene with sulfuric acid.
In 1947 Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon) offered him a postdoctoral
appointment to study motor fuel synthesis, but when his industry
contact was transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma to start a chemical group in
the geology section of a subsidiary of Standard Oil, John decided to
head west and accepted a position to develop new ways to find
oil. He took a night course in geology at Tulsa University and
was named a research chemist in 1948, initiating geochemical research
at
the Jersey Production Research Company in Tulsa. John held
subsequent positions with the firm between 1948 and 1963 as head
of production research, assistant to the manager of the geological
division, as a research
associate responsible for exploratory research in
geochemistry, and from 1956 to 1963 as head of geochemical research. He
was particularly interested in the origins of
petroleum, including how it is generated within the earth, and visited
petroleum research centers in many countries. He spent five weeks
in the fall of 1962 in the Soviet Union and Hungary as a member of a
U.S. delegation of petroleum geochemists.
In 1964 John joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution staff and
served as Chair of the Department of Geology and Chemistry from 1964 to
1967 and as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1967 to
1974. As department chair, John led an expansion of the Chemistry
Department that included diversifying and adding depth for chemical
oceanography and marine geochemistry research at WHOI.
During his career at WHOI he made a number of cruises,
serving as chief
scientist on expeditions to the Red Sea in 1966 and Black Sea in 1969
on Atlantis II, returning to the Black Sea on the Glomar Challenger in 1975. He was named a Senior Scientist in 1974 and retired in 1984, when he was named a Scientist Emeritus.
WHOI colleagues note: “John was wonderfully adept at synthesizing
various aspects of organic geochemistry in sediments as it pertained to
petroleum origin, migration, and accumulation in reservoirs. He was
always attentive at scientific talks and would frequently be heard at
coffee breaks approaching speakers with ‘Say, may I have that slide
on… for my collection?’ John always gave full attribution and wove
together these slides and ideas into an overview of geochemical and
geological processes, often proposing compelling new insights.”
A world leader in the field of petroleum geochemistry, a field he was
instrumental in founding, John Hunt served as a mentor to many
researchers. He worked for many years with Jean
Whelan and colleagues at WHOI, and when he retired Jean continued the
lab where she and many others hav benefited greatly from John’s uncanny
ability to quickly pick out the most important aspects of any
problem. His most recent work focused on petroleum migration and
led directly to Jean’s current work investigating the importance of
moving gas both in the ocean and in subsurface petroleum
reservoirs.
John Hunt was the
recipient of numerous international honors. He was awarded
the Karcher Medal in 1979, and was the first American to receive the
Treibs Medal of the Geochemical Society in 1982. In 2002 he
was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor of the Albert Einstein from
the
Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He served on
numerous national committees, including vice chair of the National
Academy of Sciences Workshop on Inputs, Fates and Effects of Petroleum
in the Marine Environment in 1973.
He was a member of numerous professional organizations, including
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Chemical
Society, Geochemical Society, European Association of Organic
Geochemists, American Geophysical Union, and Sigma Xi. John was
the author or co-author of more than 110 publications on petroleum
geochemistry. He wrote the 1979 and 1996 reference textbooks, Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology,
which is considered a classic reference in the field and is still used
in petroleum geology courses worldwide. He also held several patents,
and lectured about the origin and migration of petroleum in numerous
cities in 34 countries.
Beyond his professional pursuits, John was interested in aviation history, particularly World War I
fighter planes, and in cartoons and cartooning, keeping an extensive
book collection on both of these subjects. He loved a challenge.
At the age of 22 he rode a racing bicycle around Lake Erie with his
best friend, a feat accomplished in 10 days. In middle age he took up distance
running, and at the age of 62 he ran the New York City Marathon with
his wife Phyllis.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Laking Hunt of Falmouth; a sister,
Virginia Dietrich of Wooster, Ohio; two sons, Randall Keith Hunt and
Lawrence Lee Hunt of Houston, Texas; and three grandchildren.
Visiting hours will be held Thursday, July 28, from 6 to 8 p.m at
Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 475 Main Street,
Falmouth. A Funeral Service will be held Friday, July 29, at
11:00 a.m. at the funeral home, with burial to follow in Oak Grove
Cemetery in Falmouth.
Memorial donations may be made to the Bob Hope Parkinson Research Center, 1501 NW 9th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136-1494.
