In the United States, each person consumes the equivalent of 56 barrels of oil or 15.6 tons of coal every year. Americans represent 15 percent of the worlds population, but we consume 68 percent of the worlds energy. Energy is a global commodity ; without power our entire industrial, cultural and health infrastructure would collapse, including agriculture, transportation, information technology, communications and many other important aspects of the community and University that are taken for granted. In the future, energy production will increase to keep up with rising consumption and Timothy Carr believes that with the help of funding, students in geoscience will provide environmental friendly solutions to meet this great challenge.

Carr, professor in the Department of Geography and Geology, was recently named West Virginia Universitys first Marshall S. Miller Energy Professor through an endowment made by alumnus, Marshall S. Miller. With the Marshall S. Miller Energy Professorship in Geology, Carr will work with students to find solutions to tomorrows energy problems.

There is an obligation to begin work to develop future fossil and non-fossil energy resources and the ability to process and distribute the energy to light our homes, power our computers and allow us to travel to work,said Carr, who explained that meeting these needs will require deliberate action, extraordinary effort, extreme technology and high capital investment.

Miller strongly believes that West Virginia has the ability to become one of the nations energy leaders and continues to support new technologies, his community and alma mater.Established by him in 2002, the endowment provides funds for a professorship in geology for distinguished teaching, research, and service with a focus on energy exploration and development in fossil fuels. The Miller Energy Professor is also responsible for recruiting graduate students interested in the energy field and providing key academic leadership.

This endowment from Mr. Miller represents a tremendous contribution and commitment to the geology program here at WVU ,said Trevor Harris, Eberly Professor of Geology and Chair of the Department of Geology and Geography.We have greatly valued the vision, wisdom, and advice that he has provided us in the past about the future of energy geology in general, and at WVU in particular.

Marshall S. Miller earned his B.S. and M.S. in geology from WVU in 1965 and 1973. Later, he founded Marshall Miller and Associates in Bluefield, W.Va., and it has become one of the most successful engineering and geological consulting firms in the nation. He is author of more than 25 professional publications on geophysical and engineering topics, including geological mapping in southwestern Virginia, and has received various awards.

Miller was named to the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni, awarded an honorary degree from the Department of Geology and Geography, received the Alumni Professional Achievement Award and the Robert Hamilton Award for Community Service, and was inducted into the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame and the WVU Business Hall of Fame.

Moreover, Miller has been honored with the Society of Mining Engineer Distinguished Member Award and the National Distinguished Award, was recognized as the Merrill Lynch and Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year byInc. Magazine and Citizen of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America, and has served as one of five Distinguished Lecturers for the Henry Krumb Lecture Series and an advisor to the U.S. Geological Survey. He is a member of the Eberly College Advisory Board, serves as a board member and past President of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors, and is founder and president of the Marshall Miller Foundation.

Providing for our worlds future energy and resource needs is one of the great challenges in the earth sciences,said Carr.It is the role of higher education and West Virginia University to provide society with young people trained in geoscience expertise, and as the Marshall Miller Professor of Energy, I will contribute energetically to this effort.

Carr received a B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Geology from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Wisconsin. He joined Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) in 1980 where he worked in several research, operations, and management positions, and was involved in exploration and development projects in Alaska, the North Sea, East Greenland, California, and Kansas.

In 1992, Carr became Chief of the Energy Research Section and Senior Scientist for the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, where he was co-director of the Energy Research Center and courtesy professor in the Department of Geology.

He joined WVU last August and his current projects include research and public service efforts in the areas of subsurface petroleum geology and geophysics, energy systems, green house gas sequestration, environmental geology, and developing on-line information systems to improve public access to petroleum information and technology.
p. The Marshall S. Miller Energy Professorship in Geology was dedicated November 28, 2007 in the Department of Geologys newly renovated Brooks Hall.

Reprinted from The Eberly College Magazine,Spring 2008. For more information onWVU’s Eberly College of Arts andSciences visit http://www.as.wvu.edu/