Sherwood Dodge Tuttle, professor emeritus of geology and associate dean emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Iowa, died Sunday, June 27, 2004 at The Highlands Nursing Home in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was 86.

Born on June 8, 1918 in Medford, Mass. and raised in Hancock, N.H., Professor Tuttle, known as Tut to friends and associates, graduated from Hancock High School in 1935. He then attended the University of New Hampshire where he received a B.S. in geology with honors in 1939. It was here that Tut met another freshman, Esther Barrett, and they began a romance that would last a lifetime. After graduation, Tut resisted his father’s plan that he return to Hancock and “go into business with him.” Instead he chose to reinvent himself by traveling 3,000 miles west to do graduate work in geology. He began graduate studies at Washington State University, specializing in geomorphology, but left school to serve as a captain in the infantry during World War II. He was stationed at posts in Florida and California, primarily training infantrymen, before joining the 158th Regimental Combat Team, the “Bushmasters,” for duty in the Philippines and in the occupation of Japan. Tut noted, “I was always proud to have been a Bushmaster.” He was an avid reader of military history, served as chairman of the University Committee for ROTC Affairs and continued his service in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1968. After retirement as a colonel, he remained a member of the Honorary Retired Reserve.

After the war, Tut returned to WSU where he completed an M.S. degree in 1947. He then returned east to attend Harvard University where he received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in geology simultaneously in 1953. For his dissertation, Tut worked on the Quaternary geology of coastal New Hampshire. In summers during his graduate years, he worked for either the Washington Geological Survey, the U.S. Geological Survey, or the National Park Service. In 1957, Tut became a research associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and spent ten summers there studying beach erosion. This included one tour aboard the research vessel Atlantis. His daughter recalls an annual rhythm - from Labor Day to Memorial Day they lived in a lovely Midwestern college town - from Memorial Day to Labor Day they lived and worked at the beach. The children had a wonderful childhood.

Tut began his long tenure at The University of Iowa in 1952 and served until his retirement in 1988. There were two open positions in geology in 1952, one to teach introductory courses and the other for advanced. Tut traded the advanced for the introductory position with Richard Hoppin. His primary focus was undergraduate teaching and he took a leadership role in the department’s basic physical and historical geology courses, often lecturing to over 800 students at one time. Both courses were so popular that the department opened a second lecture section for them and started teaching each class every semester. An additional faculty member ultimately was hired to assist with these classes because Tut also was involved in 11 other courses during his tenure. His only frustration with this duty was not being able to remember all of the student's names! He also supervised 11 graduate students. Most were master’s degree candidates, then the working degree in geology. All were successful and one of his doctoral students, Marcus Milling, became a UI College of Liberal Arts Alumni Fellow in 2000.

Tut authored over 20 articles on geomorphology, three laboratory manuals, two study guides, and two books, Landforms and Landscapes and Geology of the National Parks. Both were intended to interest students. The latter, ever expanding through six editions, was prepared in association with his wife and Ann G. Harris, professor emerita of geology at Youngstown State University. The book illustrates the influence of geologic history on the physical attractions of 56 national parks; it is widely used in college courses. The book, originally written by Harris, first was published in 1975. When the publisher requested a third edition, Professor Tuttle and his wife were called to help update it. "He was a really fantastic person," Harris said. "He had an incredible memory of all the places he had worked at - even in his youth - that enabled him to contribute a lot of input on the book. I got married and our honeymoon was spent with the Tuttles working on the book. Quite truthfully, both he and Esther were almost like parents to me. We were that close. He and Esther are one of the main reasons that the book has been so successful. Because of them, we were able to keep the book as accurate as possible."

Tut was always involved with the mechanics of the University and he served on numerous administrative committees. These included the Board in Control of Athletics, Faculty Senate, the Honors Program (he served as director), the NSF Predoctoral Fellowship Committee, and the Educational Policy Committee. Tut’s facility with names, ability for organization, and knowledge of University regulations led to his being appointed chair of the Department of Geology from 1963 to 1968 and in 1970 he became an associate dean in the Liberal Arts Advisory Office. While he was chair, the Department of Geology grew from seven to eleven faculty members.

After retirement, the Tuttles moved to the Greater Cincinnati area to be with their expanding family. After a time he turned his allegiance from the Red Sox to the Cincinnati Reds. There were no changes of allegiance when it came to national parks. Tut and Esther continued their quest to visit all national parks, not only those in the lower 48 but the parks in U.S. Samoa, Hawaii, and Alaska as well. Being of frugal New England ancestry, Tut arranged a free trip to the Alaskan parks by giving lectures on geology to the other passengers on the tour boat. He also organized a year’s tour in Hong Kong as a Fulbright professor to the Chinese University.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Beverly Storm of Fort Thomas, Ky.; two sons, Mark S. Tuttle of Orinda, Calif., and Owen S. Tuttle of Sonoma, Calif.; six grandchildren; and six great-­grandchildren.

Prepared by Holmes A. Semken, Jr.; Beverly R. Storm (Tuttle), Brian F. Glenister, and Richard A. Hoppin. Rebbecca Goodman of the Cincinnati Enquirer (July 3, 2004) published the Harris remarks.