October 18, 2007

Albert Purdue was the first geology student to graduate from Stanford University in California. Sometime in the mid-1890s, he accepted a teaching position at Arkansas Industrial University, now the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County). The state legislature appointed him the ex officio state geologist from 1907 to 1912. In this position, he oversaw the publication of many informational reports on the state’s geology. When the state cut off support for his position in 1912, he left Arkansas to accept a similar position in Tennessee.