Don Gendzwill - 2013
CSEG Honorary Membership Award Recipient Don Gendzwill
Dr. Don Gendzwill was born in 1935 and has four children. He graduated from the Michigan Technological University with both a Bachelors of Science and a Master’s degree in Geophysics in 1958 and then after moving to Saskatchewan he completed his Doctorate in Geophysics at the University of Saskatchewan in 1969.
“Dr. Don” as he is affectionately known at the U of S, began his teaching career in 1970 after a stint with the Saskatchewan Research Council. He received his full Professorship in 1983 and was made Professor Emeritus in 1999. While semi-retired, Dr. Don kept busy by consulting to potash mining companies and small oil & gas companies until last year.
Don Gendzwill published some 32 technical journal papers and some 77 other publications throughout his lengthy career. He is an accomplished member of the CSEG, the SEG, the CSPG, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and a lifetime member of the Canadian Institute of Mines.
Don has had a distinguished career in mining geophysics with a long list of achievements, focusing on his favorite local Saskatchewan potash mines. He is recognized by his peers and contemporaries as a pioneer in the use of 2D seismic data for potash exploration and development and he designed the first 3D seismic program over a potash mine. He pioneered micro-seismic measurements and monitoring rock response to potash mining activity. He introduced in-seam electro-magnetics and developed simple interpretation methods for mapping salt back thickness and integrity in a potash mine.
Dr. Don Gendzwill is truly an accomplished geophysical scientist, teacher, mentor and pioneer and it is with great pleasure that the CSEG bestows upon him the CSEG Honorary Membership.
