John Tarduno

Dean for Research in Arts, Sciences and Engineering

In his role as dean for research, John Tarduno, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor and professor of geophysics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, leads a number of critical initiatives. These include increasing external funding for University research, pursuing grants and awards that support faculty diversity, and encouraging collaborations that integrate humanities, social science, and science and engineering research.

A respected scientist and educator, Tarduno’s own research focuses on detecting the past geomagnetic field, and applications to the evolution of Earth’s surface and deep interior. His recent research is on the very origin of the geodynamo, the mechanism within Earth’s core that generates the field. To investigate the magnetic field of the early Earth, Tarduno and his research group have developed a method to derive information on past field strength from single silicate minerals. In his works published in Science and Nature, Tarduno asserts that the geomagnetic field is essential for the development and sustainability of a habitable planet.

Tarduno is a Guggenheim fellow and fellow of the American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Geological Society of America. He is a recipient of the Price Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Petrus Peregrinus Medal of the European Geosciences Union.

He joined the University in 1993 from Scripps Institution of Oceanography where he was assistant research geophysicist. He received his PhD in geophysics from Stanford University and conducted postdoctoral studies at Stanford and ETH-Zurich. His teaching at the University has been recognized by Goergen and Edward Peck Curtis Awards.