Bob and Ruth Weimer, both natives of Wyoming, were married in 1948 while doing graduate studies at the University of Wyoming – Bob in Geology and Ruth in Journalism and Political Science. They had four sons, Tom, Paul, Carl and Loren (deceased). Honoring their roots and Alma Mater, this named grant gives preference to a University of Wyoming graduate student.

After employment by Union Oil Company of California, Bob took a leave of absence to receive a PhD from Stanford (1953). He was a full-time consultant for three years specializing in stratigraphic trap exploration before starting a teaching career at the Colorado School of Mines in 1957. While at CSM, he was Department Head, Getty Professor, and now Professor Emeritus.

Bob has been a major influence in exploration for energy resources, and the training of students to enter the field. He served as President of SEPM in 1972 and AAPG in 1991. As a Fulbright Lecturer, AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, and popular international speaker, he has informed audiences across the U.S. and the globe.

His research accomplishments, publications, and professional society contributions have earned him many awards, including: the AAPG’s Sidney Powers Medal, Honorary, and Distinguished Educator Award; the SEPM Twenhofel Medal, GSA Sloss Medal, the AIPG Parker Medal and the AGI Legendary Geoscientist Award. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Bob has served on advisory boards to National and State agencies. The petroleum industry still lures him to “look for a big one” through consulting work, but much of his activities in recent years has been as an expert witness before regulatory agencies. Mr. Weimer lives in Golden, CO and has been a member of AAPG since 1950.

Paul occupies the Bruce D. Benson Endowed Chair in Geology at the University of Colorado (UC) where he has taught since 1990. Prior to joining UC, Paul earned a B.A., Pomona College; M.A., University of Colorado; and Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin; and did industry work with Sohio Petroleum in Alaska, and Mobil Research and International, Dallas.

Paul specializes in sequence and seismic stratigraphy, basin analysis, and their applications to petroleum exploration and development. He is well known for publications on the deep water Gulf of Mexico that resulted from the research consortium at the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center (EMARC), for which he is director. Paul has been active on many AAPG committees, has been a Distinguished Lecturer, and was elected Treasurer for the term 2002-04. He served as AAPG President for the 2011-2012 term.

Tom is a natural resource engineer with a B.S. in Engineering, and Master of Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, and a PE degree from the University of Washington, Seattle. After work as a project engineer with Lockheed Aerospace and Sandia National Laboratories, Tom spent 20 years as a key staff person on science-based committees in the U. S. House of Representatives, and in the Department of Interior as Chief of Staff for Secretary Manuel Lujan. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science where he worked with the U. S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, and assistant secretary for policy , management and budget. Most recently, he returned to the House as the minority Staff Director for the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. He is now retired from government service and is a natural resources consultant.

Carl has used his physics background to work in developing new laser-based instruments and sensors for a wide variety of applications. His B.S. in Physics was from Harvey Mudd College, and M.S. and Ph.D. were from Colorado State University. He has been employed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), OPHIR Corporation, and is now at Ball Aerospace developing instruments for space missions. He was the technical lead for the CALIPSO satellite that launched in 2006 and which uses lasers to measure the aerosol and cloud structure of the earth's atmosphere. NASA recognized his work with a Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2008. Carl also worked on instruments for the New Horizons mission, now on its way to Pluto. Currently, Carl is working to develop new instruments and technologies for characterizing the 3D structure of the earth's forests, near surface oceans, and atmospheric winds. These are being tested on aircraft to help prepare them for future space missions. Some of this work has been on new 3D laser imaging technologies, including a sensor recently tested at the International Space Station for rendezvous and docking.