Barry Voight
Barry Voight (; born 1937) is an American geologist, volcanologist, author, and engineer. After earning his Ph.D. at Columbia University, Voight worked as a professor of geology at several universities, including Pennsylvania State University, where he taught from 1964 until his retirement in 2005. He remains an emeritus professor there and still conducts research, focusing on rock mechanics, plate tectonics, disaster prevention, and geotechnical engineering. In April 1980, Voight's publications on landslides, avalanches, and other mass movements attracted the attention of Rocky Crandell of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), who asked him to look at a growing bulge on the Mount St. Helens volcano in the state of Washington. Voight foresaw the collapse of the mountain's north flank as well as a powerful eruption. His predictions came true when St. Helens erupted in May 1980; Voight was then hired by the USGS to investigate the debris avalanche that initiated the eruption. After his work at Mount St. Helens brought him international recognition, Voight continued researching and guiding monitoring efforts at several active volcanoes throughout his career, including Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, Mount Merapi in Indonesia, and Soufrière Hills, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. For his research, publications, and disaster prevention work as a volcanologist and engineer, Voight has been honored with numerous awards, appointments, and medals. Personal life and education Born in 1937, Voight grew up in Yonkers, New York. His brothers are actor Jon Voight and songwriter Chip Taylor, actress Angelina Jolie is his niece, and musician James Haven is his nephew. Barry and his wife Mary Anne (née Verdisco) have two daughters, Lisa and Barbara. Voight's father was professional golf player Elmer "Elmo" Voight (1909–1973), a leader in the effort to break the color barrier in golf, and his mother Barbara (1910–1995) was a teacher and swim instructor. Voight and his brothers grew up playing golf, and Barry also developed an interest in swimming. Voight graduated from Archbishop Stepinac High School in 1955. After high school, Voight pursued a 5-year intensive dual-degree program at the University of Notre Dame, studying landslips along Lake Michigan and receiving undergraduate degrees in geology in 1959 and in civil engineering in 1960. He earned his master's degree in civil engineering from Notre Dame in 1961. Voight attributes his interest in science to his mentors at Notre Dame, professors Ray Gutschick and Erhard Winkler. After spending one year studying at Cornell University, Voight transferred to Columbia University, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in geology in 1965, studying rock mechanics and structural geology under Fred Donath. While at Columbia, Voight was named a President's Fellow, and taught a lecture course called "Geology for Engineers". Teaching career Voight began teaching in 1961, serving as a teaching assistant at the University of Notre Dame while pursuing his master's degree in civil engineering. From 1961 to 1963, he served as a teaching assistant at Cornell and Columbia. In 1964, he joined the faculty at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) as an