Herbert E. Hendriks ’40, 2008 Honorary Degree

October 12, 2008
Herb Hendriks, professor emeritus of geology, receives an Honorary Degree from President Les Garner.
Herb Hendriks ’40, professor emeritus of geology, receives an Honorary Degree from President Les Garner.

Honorary Degree: Doctor of Science

Citation as read
Homecoming Convocation
October 11, 2008
Mount Vernon, IA

Herbert E. Hendriks, you stand before us today as alumnus, gifted professor, scholar, administrator, and noted contributor to the history of Cornell College. On this Hilltop you found your vocational calling, your beloved wife Luretta, and a community that claimed your professional talents and affection. Now we honor you as one of the builders of this institution.

Your record as a teacher and a leader of Cornell’s strong geology department is remarkable. Your ability to attract and mentor young faculty has made a major contribution to this institution and ensured the legacy of your heroes, geology professors William Harmon Norton and Neil Miner.

You are an innovator and pioneer. As a graduate student you questioned the conventional thinking that continents were fixed, embracing the theory of continental drift. Your dissertation also broke with accepted theory and you became a leader in recognizing the importance of ancient meteorite craters on Earth’s surface. In the 1940s you became concerned about the sustainability of natural resources and began to petition for an environmental studies course. You finally were able to offer that course in the 1960s, and in 1975 founded and directed Cornell’s Environmental Studies Program, one of the first in the nation.

You believed so strongly in the importance of fieldwork that you and Luretta set up the Hendriks Student Research Fund, to which your students continue to contribute today in your honor. You set an example to students as a successful field investigator, both as an exploration consultant to major petroleum companies and as a professor for over 20 summers at Camp Norton field station in Wyoming.

Within your field you are held in high regard. You were a leader in the national, regional, and state geological societies, and in 1975 the Iowa Academy of Science honored you with its Centennial Award.

With this honorary degree, we present you our greatest tribute, mindful of all you have done for the fields of geology and environmental studies, and for Cornell College. Your legacy lives with us. It is our privilege and our pleasure to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.