A former ASU geology professor could have a cave along the Colorado River named in his honor.
Late professor Troy Pewe taught at ASU for 34 years and served as the head of what was then the Department of Geology from 1965 to 1976.
Brian Gootee, a former ASU student who worked with Pewe doing research in Alaska, is pressing to have the cave named for Pewe, along with fellow geology professor Ramon Arrowsmith.
“Arrowsmith and I put the proposition together,” Gootee said. “At first it didn’t meet the three criteria to be named through the state. I then took over and met those criteria. The proposal is still active and we are awaiting the decision from the state.”
The three criteria are appropriateness, acceptability and need, and are evaluated by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
While teaching at ASU, Pewe planned annual trips to the Colorado River to give students the opportunity to study caves.
Over the course of his time at ASU, he took 30 trips to the river. He was a huge proponent of fieldwork and enjoyed getting the students out of the classroom, said fellow geology professor Edmund Stump.
“He enjoyed being in the front of the class,” Stump said. “He liked showing off to some degree and he liked the interest and adulation students gave him. He was very animated and enthusiastic.”
Arrowsmith also knew Pewe very well. He kept in contact with Pewe’s widow until she died.
Arrowsmith said Pewe was a demanding teacher but really cared about his students. He was always well prepared and well dressed, and made it difficult for his students to get away with not participating.
“He was very caring about people, and again kind of demanding,” Arrowsmith said. “I got here and I was a young professor and he would call me and make me call him back. He was insistent that I join him on field trips and was really excited that I cared so much about it.”
Pewe also has a lake and a peak named after him in Antarctica, Stump said. Pewe explored the peak, which is immediately south of Joyce Glacier. The lake is located east of Blackwelder Glacier in Victoria Land. It was named for the glacial geomorphological work Pewe did in the Koettlitz Glacier.
The geology department, now part of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, still takes students and alumni on trips to the Colorado River, although not yearly, as was done when Pewe was still teaching. Pewe’s son, Rick, leads the trip as well. The trip includes the same stops as it did when Pewe went.
Pewe wrote one of the first guidebooks about traveling along the Colorado River, called the “Colorado River Guidebook: A Geologic and Geographic Guide.” Arrowsmith said the book is still used on the trips in his memory.
“He’s still alive through the field trip,” Arrowsmith said.
Reach the reporter at acirving@asu.edu
