Rate My Professor John Grotzinger

John Grotzinger is the Harold Brown Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he serves in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. A leading figure in geoscience, he specializes in sedimentology, stratigraphy, geobiology, and the study of ancient surface processes on Earth and Mars. Grotzinger received his B.S. in geology from Hobart College in 1979, M.S. from the University of Montana in 1981, and Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1985. Early in his career, he worked as a Research Scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada (1985-1988) and held postdoctoral and associate positions at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory. At MIT from 1988 to 2005, he progressed from Assistant to Full Professor, served as Waldemar Lindgren Distinguished Scholar, Director of the Earth Resources Laboratory, and Robert E. Shrock Professor of Geology. He first visited Caltech as Visiting Associate Professor in 1996, became Moore Distinguished Scholar in 2004, and joined full-time in 2005 as Fletcher Jones Professor. He chaired the Division from 2014 to 2024 and holds the Ted and Ginger Jenkins Leadership Chair.