John V. Walther’s graduate education culminated in a PhD degree in Geology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978. While at Berkeley, he worked under the direction of the theoretical high-temperature/pressure solution geochemist, Prof. Harold C. Helgeson. He then spent two years at Yale University as a Gibbs Instructor in the Geology and Geophysics Department, where he learn hydrothermal experimental techniques from Prof. Philip Orville. In 1985 he accepted an appointment in Northwestern University’s Geological Sciences Department in Evanston, IL. At Northwestern he rose to the rank of Professor, served as Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences and was the founding director of Northwestern’s Environmental Science Program.''''''''''' In 1994 Dr. Walther was appointed to the Matthews Chair of Geochemistry in the Geological Sciences Department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. At S.M.U. he is the Director of the Environmental Sciences/Studies Program. His teaching responsibilities include courses in Oceanography, Resources and the Environment, Geochemistry, and Hydrogeology.