Memorial for Manik Talwani

Please join the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, and the Rice Community, for a memorial for Manik Talwani, Professor Emeritus, who passed away on March 22, 2023. The memorial will be held on Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 3:00pm in the Rice Memorial Chapel on Rice University's campus with a reception to follow in Farnsworth Pavilion. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Manik’s successful career spanned more than 60 years, during which time he made numerous foundational discoveries that contributed to the modern theory of plate tectonics, while also developing novel geophysical techniques that enabled detailed imaging of subsurface geologic structures using gravity and seismic methods.

Born in India on August 22, 1933, Manik completed his Ph.D. in geophysics at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University in 1959, working under Maurice Ewing. He stayed on at Lamont as a research scientist, joining as Geology faculty in 1967, and ultimately serving as Director of LDEO from 1973 to 1981. After a brief stint working at Gulf (Oil) Research and Development Company of Pittsburgh, PA, Manik joined Rice University as the Schlumberger Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, while also serving as the director of the Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center. Although Manik officially retired from Rice in 2006, from 2004 to 2009 he served as the inaugural President and CEO of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Management International in Washington D.C., the international marine research and drilling program that investigates climate change history, the deep biosphere, geodynamics and solid Earth cycles. He remained an active emeritus professor and research scientist until his death.

For more information about Manik's life and accomplishments, click HERE.