Debaprasad Bhattacharyya *81

Deba died March 11, 2024, in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

Born in Calcutta Aug. 25, 1944, at the University of Calcutta he earned a B.Sc. in geology in 1963 and a M.Sc. in geology in 1965. He came to the United States in 1976 for graduate studies at Princeton and earned a Ph.D. in geological and geophysical sciences in 1981.

Deba’s professional expertise included petroleum geology, stratigraphy (including sequence stratigraphy), sedimentology, basin analysis, field geology, petrology, reservoir characterization, clay mineralogy, trace element and stable isotope geochemistry of sediments, and international petroleum geology. His research took him to numerous international destinations, including Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.

He worked for the Geological Survey of India, and was a teacher of stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochemistry. Deba began his teaching career at the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department of Washington University, and held faculty posts at the University of South Carolina, University of Utah, and Salt Lake Community College. He was also a science teacher at high schools in California. He retired as director of education at the Discovery Science Center in 2010.

Deba is survived by his wife, Devhuti Vyas; son Sarathi Bhattacharyya; daughter-in-law Swati Vutukuri; and grandson Arjun Bhattacharyya.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.