Interim Jackson School Dean and USGS Director Chip Groat Passes Away
March 18, 2025
Today, we received the sad news of the passing of Dr. Chip Groat on Friday, March 14th, 2025, shortly before his 85th birthday.
Dr. Groat was a 1968 Ph.D. graduate in Geology from UT Austin, a former member of the Geology Foundation Advisory Council, and served briefly as Interim Dean for the Jackson School of Geosciences (2008-2009). Over his long career, Groat served in many capacities as a professor and administrator.
His initial role was as a Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology (1968-1976), where he was Associate Director (1971-75) and Acting Director (1975-1976) during a leave of absence of Bill Fisher. Leaving the Bureau, Groat moved to the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University, where he was a professor and simultaneously served as Director and State Geologist for the Louisiana Geological Survey (1983-1990). Groat then moved to serve as executive director for the American Geosciences Institute (1990-1992) before returning to LSU as executive director (1992–1995) for the Center for Coastal, Energy, and Environmental Resources. He moved in 1995 to the University of Texas at El Paso where he was Director of the Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program and a professor of Geological Sciences.
In 1998, President Clinton appointed Groat to serve as the 13th Director of the USGS. He was retained as director by President Bush George W. Bush and remained at the USGS until 2005. He then returned to UT Austin to direct the Energy and Earth Resources Graduate Program and the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, stepping up briefly to serve as Interim Dean of the Jackson School (2008-2009). In 2012, Groat once again moved to Louisiana to become the founding president and CEO of the Water Institute of the Gulf, stepping down from leadership in 2017. From 2019-2021, he was called back to serve as acting Director of the Louisiana Geological Survey, retiring from public service in 2021.
A Memorial Service will be Tuesday 25th March 11am at St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Claudia Mora, Dean