Alumnus Peter Vail Passed Away After Long and Impactful Career
January 2, 2025
Peter Robbins Vail
January 13, 1930 – December 28, 2024
Peter Robbins Vail, a pioneering geologist/geophysicist, passed away on December 28th, 2024, at the age of 94. Dr. Vail earned a Ph.D. from what is now the department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University in 1956. News of Dr. Vail’s passing was shared by his Rice University colleague Malcolm Ross. Peter Vail was born in New York City on January 13, 1930, and leaves behind a large and loving family and a grand academic legacy.
While at Northwestern University, Peter carried out his research under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Sloss and Dr. William Krumbein. After a career in the oil industry, Dr. Vail became the W. Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography at Rice University. More about Peter and his academic legacy can be found on our alumni profiles page, at Pegasus Senior Living (https://www.pegasusseniorliving.com/pegasus-landing-of-tanglewood/meet-geologist-peter-vail/), and in the obituary for Dr. Vail on Rice University’s web site (to be posted).