George Bevier

George Bevier

BSc	Metallurgy
PhD	Hon. Doctor of Science
BSc university	Carnegie Tech and U. of Pittsburg
PhD university	University of Pittsburg

George Means Bevier (March 2, 1888 - October 11, 1972) was an American geoscientist and pioneer in exploration geophysics, who is credited with the development of a seismograph for exploration geophysics.

Biography

George M. Bevier attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh and received a BS degree in metallurgy in 1913.

He registered for the World War I draft in 1917-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Bevier served in the Department of Military Aeronautics in World War I. During the census of 1920, he was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and listed himself as a self-employed geologist. By 1920, he had invented a seismograph detector and was engaged in experimental work. Dr . Bevier was one of the first geologists to combine geology and geophysics in the exploration for oil and gas. He was the District Geologist for the Atlantic Refining Co. in the Gulf Coast area of Texas and Louisiana from 1919 to 1924. He was the Gulf Coast District Geologist and Geophysicist for Pure Oil Co. from 1926 to 1930. He became an independent geologist after 1930. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the U. of Pittsburgh in 1937, and the distinguished alumnus award in 1964. The Bevier Engineering Library at the U. of Pittsburgh is named for George Means Bevier.

Charitable Contributions

PITTSBURGH—The estate of George M. Bevier has donated $10.5 million to the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering. George Bevier, a petroleum geologist who received the Bachelor of Science degree in engineering in 1913 from Pitt’s School of Engineering, is credited as the inventor of a seismograph used to locate the presence of oil and gas fields. The gift continues the Beviers’ long history of friendship with Pitt. Upon George Bevier’s death in 1972, Eva Bevier, his wife, continued a relationship with Pitt and the University’s School of Engineering until her death in December 2002. Through the years, the couple established and maintained the Bevier Engineering Library in the School of Engineering and provided significant financial support to the school’s Petroleum Engineering Program.

This most recent bequest will support the Bevier Engineering Library, establish the George M. Bevier Endowed Chair in the School of Engineering, create the George M. Bevier Fellowships in Engineering, and create the George M Bevier Award to support programs in bioengineering, sustainability, and energy and energy resources. “The Bevier Chair and the Bevier Fellowships will allow us to attract and retain outstanding faculty and students, respectively, in these critical areas,” said Gerald Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering.