GSA Foundation names new president

The Geological Society of America Foundation (GSAF) announced Friday it has appointed Dr. Christopher Grant Maples as its next president.

Maples replaces Dr. Jack Hess, who has been the president of The Foundation since January 2015. Maples will join GSAF in July.

Maples earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Indiana University and his B.S. at West Georgia College. He has held senior leadership positions at both geoscience centers (Department Chair, Geological Sciences, Indiana University; executive vice president for research, Desert Research Institute) and technology-focused universities (president, Oregon Institute of Technology; interim chancellor, Missouri University of Science and Technology).

He also has served at the National Science Foundation and the Kansas Geological Survey. In addition, he has some 16 years of continual advanced leadership training at several prestigious institutions. He is a GSA Fellow and a Fellow of the Paleontological Society.