Dr. Roberto Molina Garza (U M PhD, 1989), Professor at the Centre for Geosciences, Unidersidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, in Juriquilla, Queretero, was murdered on 29 December, 2021, in an attempted automobile hijacking near Villagran, Guanajuato. He studied geophysical engineering and received an BSc degree from UNAM prior to coming to Ann Arbor and working with Rob Van der Voo. His dissertation included paleomagnetic studies of the tectonic rotation of the Yucatan Block and the opening of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the magnetostratigraphy of red beds of west Texas, demonstrating the age of the termination of the late Paleozoic Kiaman superchron. He carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Utrecht and then at the University of New Mexico and became a Research Scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences there, continuing research with John Geissman and several additional colleagues for almost a decade. He returned to Mexico, to the UNAM Centre of Geosciences where he was a member of the faculty and broadened his research efforts to a number of geologic and tectonic problems in Mexico and adjacent regions. He was the mentor to numerous students, both from Mexico and several other countries, promoting an array of international collaborations. He was an active member of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the Union Geofisica Mexicana, and the LatinMag. He was deeply interested in earth science education, as indicated by his textbook on earth science and the geology of Mexico. An aficionado of life, family, and work, Roberto will be greatly missed by many. I (John Geissman) first learned about Roberto while Rob Van der Voo was sitting in my office at UNM in t he mid-1980’s. We had invited Rob for a few lectures, and I was telling him about a new project on red beds in west Texas, which contained several volcanic ash beds that had been recently dated by the K-Ar method. I watched Rob have one of his very typical “ah-ha!” moments and he said, I have the perfect student to work on this with you! The next thing that I knew, I was greeting Roberto at the Albuquerque airport! That was 35 years ago. Having Roberto at the University of New Mexico for many years was a true delight and honor. I will never forget every day of our National Geographic Society supported journey to Xinjiang Province, western China, with Spencer Lucas and Heinz Kozur, in August and September, 1996. We had planned to study the proposed terrestrial GSSP for the Permian Triassic boundary, along with Chinese colleagues from Beijing and Urumqi. Despite the fact that our endeavor did not go according to plans, the experience with Roberto just further solidified a relationship that continued, in a very fruitful way, to his passing. Several pictures of Roberto during that field endeavor to Xinjian Province, as well as to Chiapas, in southern Mexico, are included here. As with Joe, all of my students always remarked about Roberto visiting their posters, bringing up excellent questions, and inevitably providing great advice! He shall be missed, tremendously.
John Geissman, Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico
I (Joe Meert) first met Roberto when I arrived at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 1988 to begin work on a Ph.D. My initial plan was to work with Henry Pollack with a focus on heat flow. My dissertation topic changed to paleomagnetism during that first semester. The switch from heat flow to paleomagnetism was a major change (I had completed my MSc. in heat flow). I had to rely on the students, post-doc’s and Voo to learn lab techniques, software and analysis of paleomagnetic data. Roberto was a Ph.D. candidate at the time and occupied the office next door. I remember heating my first batch of samples in the oven and reaching ~300° C. We were using an old model Schonstedt oven (with a large gradient) and Roberto told me (ahead of time) to keep the samples in the same order at each step because the gradient at each position was established. Upon removing the 300° C treated samples, I had a different problem. Only faint outlines remained of the once bright ‘permanent’ markings! Roberto patiently helped me sort through and identify the samples, find what remained of the markings and explained how to make labels that could handle the high temperatures. That simple outreach typified Roberto. He would help anybody with anything. He was a natural leader and teacher even at a young age. Although he did not laugh at me for my paleomagnetic naivete, he had a wickedly dry sense of humor (sometimes involving sharpie markers). Roberto always made sure that the group was prepared to celebrate academic milestones such as MS thesis defense or Ph.D. qualifying exams. He embodied the word collegial. My current students tell me that Roberto always stopped by their posters, asked probing questions, and offered sage advice. Descansa en paz, viejo amigo. Se te extrañará siempre.
Joe Meert, Professor, University of Florida
I (Joe Meert) first met Roberto when I arrived at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 1988 to begin work on a Ph.D. My initial plan was to work with Henry Pollack with a focus on heat flow. My dissertation topic changed to paleomagnetism during that first semester. The switch from heat flow to paleomagnetism was a major change (I had completed my MSc. in heat flow). I had to rely on the students, post-doc’s and Voo to learn lab techniques, software and analysis of paleomagnetic data. Roberto was a Ph.D. candidate at the time and occupied the office next door. I remember heating my first batch of samples in the oven and reaching ~300° C. We were using an old model Schonstedt oven (with a large gradient) and Roberto told me (ahead of time) to keep the samples in the same order at each step because the gradient at each position was established. Upon removing the 300° C treated samples, I had a different problem. Only faint outlines remained of the once bright ‘permanent’ markings! Roberto patiently helped me sort through and identify the samples, find what remained of the markings and explained how to make labels that could handle the high temperatures. That simple outreach typified Roberto. He would help anybody with anything. He was a natural leader and teacher even at a young age. Although he did not laugh at me for my paleomagnetic naivete, he had a wickedly dry sense of humor (sometimes involving sharpie markers). Roberto always made sure that the group was prepared to celebrate academic milestones such as MS thesis defense or Ph.D. qualifying exams. He embodied the word collegial. My current students tell me that Roberto always stopped by their posters, asked probing questions, and offered sage advice. Descansa en paz, viejo amigo. Se te extrañará siempre.
Joe Meert, Professor, University of Florida
