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  2. Richard G. Gordon
Member Since 1976
Richard G. Gordon
Professor, Rice University
I investigate quantitative global tectonics, including global plate motions, lithosphere deformation, and paleomagnetism. My colleagues and I developed the widely used NUVEL and MORVEL set of global plate velocities and pioneered the concepts of diffuse oceanic plate boundaries and of paleomagnetic Euler poles. I grew up in San Jose, California and was educated at UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University. I was on the faculty of Northwestern University 1980-1995 and of Rice University since 1995.
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Professional Experience
Stanford University
PhD
1979 - Present
Rice University
Professor
Richard's AGU Research
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Geologically Current Rates of Hotspot Motion
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
29 april 2026
Geologically Current Directions of Motion of 53 Hotspots Estimated from Monte Carlo Inversion
NEW VIEWS ON SUBMARINE AND TERRESTRIAL INTRAPLATE VOLCANISM I ORAL
volcanology, geochemistry and petrology | 17 december 2025
Non-closure of the Cocos-Nazca-Pacific Plate-Motion Circuit and Inferred Deformation of the Cocos Plate: Where Does it Occur and Is it Diffuse or Localized?
PLATE MOTION, CONTINENTAL DEFORMATION, AND INTERSEISMIC STRAIN ACCUMULATION II ORAL
geodesy | 10 december 2024
Comparison of Rates of Motion of Hotspots Relative to the Mean Hotspot Reference Frame from Track Trends and from Age Dates
FRONTIERS IN PALEOGEOGRAPHY III POSTER
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 13 december 2023
Cenozoic and Late Cretaceous Apparent Polar Wander of the Pacific Plate: Implications for Pole Precision, True Polar Wander, and Plate Motion Circuits
FRONTIERS IN PALEOGEOGRAPHY I ORAL
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 11 december 2023
The Plate Motion Circuit Relating the Motion of the Pacific Plate to the Continental Plates
FRONTIERS IN PALEOGEOGRAPHY III POSTER
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 15 december 2022
A New Paleomagnetic Pole from Skewness of Pacific Plate Magnetic Anomalies 30n-31n and Implications for Maastrichtian Paleogeography
FRONTIERS IN PALEOGEOGRAPHY III POSTER
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 15 december 2022
The Magnitude of Neotectonic Hotspot Motion: Towards Better Absolute Reference Frames
FRONTIERS IN PALEOGEOGRAPHY III POSTER
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 15 december 2022
Volunteer Experience
2018 - 2018
Chair
Ewing Medal Committee
2017 - 2018
Member
Honors and Recognition Committee
2015 - 2016
Immediate Past President
Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism and Electromagnetism Executive Committee
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Honors & Awards
Walter H. Bucher Medal
Received 2025
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Francis Birch Lecture
Received 1998
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Union Fellow
Received 1989
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