MEDIA ADVISORY

A new, permanent landmark at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will be dedicated Thursday, June 29 to an Alaskan geophysicist whose support of the school and public service has been unshakeable for nearly four decades. A large boulder and bronze plaque will mark the crest of College Hill in honor of Jack B. Townshend, known affectionately as "Earthquake Jack" to friends and long-time Fairbanksans, who was on duty the day Alaska's worst natural disaster occurred.

The Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 rumbled through the state barely a year after Townshend became chief at the College Observatory in Fairbanks. From instruments in a concrete vault 20 feet underground on campus, Townshend watched the seismology monitoring machine's pen swing wildly for several minutes in his office, recording the 9.2 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter in Prince William Sound. He immediately worked on disseminating public information about the event as it unfolded and, after investigating damage around the state, authored the first intensity evaluation of the largest quake in North America.

Making breakthroughs in science is just another facet to Townshend's lifetime of achievements, which include establishing the state-of-the-art College International Geophysical Observatory at UAF. An accomplished runner, Townshend has also run in more than 65 cities around the world, including the New York and Equinox marathons.

His personal and professional achievements have been recognized by President Bill Clinton, the Alaska State Legislature and by UAF, who awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1995.

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CONTACT: Kellie Fritzie, UAF Facilities Services, at (907) 474-5780.

JCS/6-27-00/00-091ma