Jeffrey D. Keith

Jeffrey D. Keith, a native of Provo, earned his BS degree in geology from BYU in 1977 and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1980 and 1982. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Queen’s University (in Kingston, Ontario, Canada). Subsequently he was an assistant professor at the University of Georgia for six years before joining the BYU geology faculty in 1990.

Professor Keith’s prior service to the university includes five years as chair of Geological Sciences, graduate coordinator, membership on the Graduate Council and four years service in Planning and Assessment conducting academic unit reviews. He has also served as an external reviewer for programs at other universities. Nevertheless, his first love is teaching – including both large section GE courses and smaller classes doing field studies. He has received teaching awards at BYU and the University of Georgia.

His scholarship deals with the geochemistry and origin of a wide variety of ore deposits and has been funded by grants from industry and the National Science Foundation. He is particularly interested in volcanic and magmatic processes that may be related to ore formation. These interests have allowed him to examine volcanoes and ore deposits in diverse areas including Inner Mongolia, Siberia, Japan, Italy, Hawaii, Oman, northern Canada, the Aeolian Isles, and Utah. For some of his research he received the 2000 Hawley Medal from the Mineralogical Association of Canada.

Jeff and his wife Brooke are the parents of nine children and fourteen grandchildren. Brooke is his most avid field assistant in taking student and alumni groups to examine volcanoes in various parts of the world.