Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing notes created before and during the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0004: Nolan Aughenbaugh, 2001 April
[identification of item], Nolan Aughenbaugh Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0085, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 October; finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 December
Dr. Nolan B. Aughenbaugh (1928-2017) was a geological engineer and Antarctic explorer. Following his time in the United States Marine Corps at the end of World War II and during the Korean War, he graduated from Purdue University in 1955 with a bachelors of science in civil engineering. The same year, Aughenbaugh was hired to work on an experiment at Thule Air Base on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which piqued his interest in glaciers and glacial geology. Following this trip, he began studying for his masters at the University of Michigan, where he focused on studying geology. While there, Aughenbaugh's advisor Jim Zumberg offered him the opportunity to go on the expedition for the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) due to his prior experience with civil engineering, glaciers, mountain climbing, surveying, and geology.
Following the International Geophysical Year expedition, Aughenbaugh finished his master of science in geology at Purdue University in 1960. He went on to finish his doctorate of philosophy in civil engineering from Purdue University in 1963, and continued working there as a faculty member until 1966, when he left to help set up a new geological engineering program at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Aughenbaugh also taught at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and at the University of Mississippi, where he eventually became an emeritus professor. He has two geographic features in Antarctica named for him: the Aughenbaugh Peak in the Pensacola Mountains, and the Aughenbaugh Gabbro, which is part of the Dufek Intrusion.
The Nolan Aughenbaugh Oral History, dated January-April 2001, contains audio recordings, notes, and transcripts of the interview between Brian Shoemaker and Dian Belanger of the American Polar Society, and Dr. Aughenbaugh, conducted on April 12, 2001. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Aughenbaugh's trip to Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958, his memories of his time in Antarctica, his experiences with Finn Ronne in Antarctica, and his teaching career following his return from the expedition.