Virginia Sand

Virginia Sand (November 23, 1928–February 13, 2007) was the first female at Northwestern University to graduate with a degree in geology. Sand taught geology at Kent State University for three decades and was named Professor Emeritus of Geology in 1993. She was a longtime member of the Association of Women Geoscientists, a benefactor to the Wilderness Center in Wilmot, Ohio, and a board member of the Buckeye Trail Association. Her contributions to the field of geology were complemented and fueled by a thirst for world travel.

Education

Born Virginia Murphy to parents James and Gladys Murphy, Virginia attended high school in Evanston, Illinois. After high school, she earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in May, 1950. As the first female to earn a degree in geology, she received resistance from the department. One professor made deliberate attempts to thwart her studies by sending her repeatedly to the blackboard in an effort to embarrass her, openly admonishing her in front of classmates. While at Northwestern, she was also a member of the Gamma-Phi-Beta Sorority.

Her formal education was interrupted in the 1950s when she married Martin B. Sand. After relocating to New Philadelphia, Ohio in 1954, the couple opened the Mart Sand Pontiac Dealership, and the business demanded attention. She also gave birth to three daughters, and divided her time between her children, the dealership, and giving Spanish lessons out of her home. It wasn't until the latter part of the 1960s that Sand enrolled at the main campus of Kent State University, earning her Master of Arts Degree in Teaching Earth Science in 1969.

Professor of Geology

After receiving her masters degree, Sand spent the next three decades teaching geology at the Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University. Encouraging her students to reach beyond their usual environment, Sand offered extra credit to students willing to travel outside of the region to expand their horizons. She was the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1975, and the Most Popular Professor Award in 1977. In 1993, she was given the honor of being named Professor Emeritus of Geology. Sand retired in 1997.

Sand was a longtime member and had a place on the foundation board of the Association of Women Geoscientists, serving on their executive board as editor of the association newsletter from 1988 to 1991. She made countless contributions to the Wilderness Center in Wilmot, Ohio, where she served as docent and made regular donations. She was instrumental in the collection and erection of the fossil wall, the main feature of the Interpretive Building's foyer. To complete the wall, she personally travelled to the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian to collect casts of fossils from the museum's collection. The Center recognized Sand's efforts by awarding her the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003 for distinguished service. After her passing in 2007, the Stark County Leave a Legacy Foundation awarded her its 2008 Philanthropist Award. [The Wilderness Center Newsletter, June, 2008] The award was presented on May 7, 2008 by Gordon Maupin, executive director of the Wilderness Center, and accepted by Sand's daughter, Chris Sand-Ashley, and granddaughter, Elizabeth Eckel.

Sand was also involved in the Buckeye Trail Association as a board member and trailblazer. As a member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, she conducted investigations for attorneys on such matters as landslides and damage from mines.First United Methodist Church Newsletter, February 2005] She was a member of the American Association of University Women, the Nature Conservatory, and Mensa International, an invitational roundtable where membership includes only the most intelligent and gifted thinkers in the world. Sand served on the Staff Parish Committee for the First United Methodist Church in her community. She also taught Sunday school, directed the church's vacation Bible school, and served as their Superintendent of Education for one year.

Travel

Sand dedicated much of her life to seeing the world, and continued her explorations even after losing her husband to Alzheimer's disease in 2001. Her journeys included trips to the Galapagos Islands, South America, Mexico, Hawaii, Mount St. Helens, Iguaca Falls, Turkey, Iceland, Ecuador, parts of Asia, and the Danube and Rhine Grand Circle in Europe. In January of 2005 she made a trip to Antarctica, moving from island to island at the age of 76. In 1994 and 1995 she was a lecturer on cruise ships for the Cunard Line. She went on many geology trips to the Southwest United States, one of which took her to a ranch where a mastodon with an arrowhead in his ribs had been found, proving the coexistence of humans and mastodons 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Sand's ashes have been scattered by her family in the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon, whose rapids she conquered on nine separate occasions. Her enthusiasm for taking on new horizons was a key part of the legacy she imparted to her many students.

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