Earl L. Packard Papers, 1913-1980

Dr. Earl Leroy Packard was known for his study of the fossil records of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods along the Pacific coast, as well as his summer geology field camps in Eastern Oregon. He attended the University of Washington from 1907 to 1912, receiving his BA and MA degrees in geology; three years later, in 1915, he received his PhD in paleontology from the University of California at Berkeley.

Packard taught geology at the University of Oregon from 1918 through 1932; it was there that he began to offer summer field camps in geology. In 1932, the Oregon State System of Higher Education was reorganized; as a consequence, the School of Science was established at Oregon State College. With this reorganization, Packard began his tenure at OSC as Dean of the new School of Science, Chairman of the Department of Geology, and Director of the Research Council. He resigned as Dean in 1938, but continued to head the research council until 1946. He retired in 1950 and moved to Palo Alto, where he was named research associate at Stanford University. Packard died January 20, 1983, in Palo Alto, California.