Golden – Waverly Person, the public face of the National Earthquake Information Center, is retiring Friday after 51 years as a federal earthquake scientist, the center said.
Person was frequently quoted in newspapers and appeared on television news as a spokesman for the center, which monitors earthquakes around the world.
“Waverly is a hard act to follow not only because of his calm under fire, but also his incredible encyclopedic mind for earthquake history,” Jill McCarthy, director of the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Geologic Hazards Team, said today.
She said other scientists have been trained to handle media inquiries, and the agency has developed databases and computer programs to provide information that often came from Person.
“Even still, we realize that things just won’t be the same without Waverly,” she said.
Person started work as a science technician in the 1950s for the U.S. Commerce Department, which oversaw federal seismic monitoring.
Those duties are now performed by the earthquake information center, part of the U.S. Geological Survey and based in this town west of Denver.
He served in the Army in World War II and Korea before joining the Commerce Department.
Person plans to travel with his wife, Sarah, and to continue his work to educate minority students about seismology, the center said.
