Fritiof Melvin Fryxell glass plate images and photographs

Fritiof Melvin Fryxell was a geology professor at Augustana College from 1929 to 1968. Fryxell was born in Moline, Illinois in 1900. He attended Augustana College, and graduated in 1922 with degrees in biology and English. He obtained his M. A. in English at the University of Illinois in 1923. He later returned to Augustana College as a teaching assistant for biology and English. He took a leave of absence from the college to earn his doctorate in geology and returned to the school in 1929 as the founder and chair of the geology department.

From 1929 to 1934, Fryxell was a naturalist in the Grand Teton mountain range of Wyoming. While there, his job included making geological observations, supervising the laying of trails in the developing park, planning a museum, and preparing literature describing the Tetons. Fryxell completed the work during the summers in order to continue teaching at Augustana College during the school year.

From 1935 to 1937, Fryxell served as a geologist and museum consultant for the National Park Service (NPS) and relocated to the University of California. Through his work as a geologist for the NPS, Fryxell developed plans for eight museums in various national parks.

In 1939, Fryxell joined a group of geologists assigned to make a petroleum survey of the Philippine Islands. Fryxell later became a research supervisor and then assistant chief of the Military Geology Unit. In the fall of 1944, Fryxell traveled to London to study British methods of intelligence. After returning from the Philippines, Fryxell became the first president of the National Association of Geology Teachers. In 1953, Fryxell won the Neil A. Miner Award given by the Association of Geology Teachers. Fryxell received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1954.

Fryxell retired from Augustana College after the spring term of 1968 and was named professor emeritus in April 1968. The Fryxell Geology Museum was named in his honor in 1969. In 1979, he received the University of Wyoming’s highest honor, the Doctor of Laws degree. He authored numerous books, including several on the Teton and Jackson Hole regions of Wyoming. In 1985, Augustana College created the Fryxell Chair in Geology. Fryxell passed away on December 19, 1986.