Dr. Dale F. Ritter, executive director emeritus of the Desert Research Institute's Quaternary Sciences Center, has received the Distinguished Career Award from the Geological Society of America's Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division for contributions to research and education in geomorphology.
As executive director of one of five DRI research centers from 1990 to 1996, Ritter held the equivalent rank of dean in the University and Community College System of Nevada. He is widely recognized in his field as the author of "Process Geomorphology," regarded as the classic English-language textbook for college geomorphology instruction for nearly 20 years.
Quaternary sciences concern the last 1.8 million years of the Earth's natural history. Ritter's specialty of geomorphology focuses on the factors that shape the surface of the Earth itself, such as climate and geology.