White Medal recipient for 2026: Dr. Jack Hess
The Karst Waters Institute is proud to announce Dr. John W. Hess as the recipient of the 2026 William B. and Elizabeth L. White Medal for Excellence in Karst Studies. KWI recognizes Jack for the nearly seven decades he has dedicated to conducting, advancing, and supporting karst and cave research.
(Register for the White Medal Dinner and celebration here.)
Jack Hess’ passion for caving and karst science began when he was 12 years old visiting a cave in Lancaster, PA, and grew even stronger when the family moved to State College, PA, where Jack took up caving in the local area while still in high school. He went on to complete both a B.S. in Geophysics and a Ph.D. in Geology at The Pennsylvania State University, with Will White as his major advisor.
Jack’s research contributions include hydrogeologic, stable isotope, and geochemical studies in Burnsville Cove, VA, Mammoth Cave National Park, KY, Carlsbad Cave National Park, NM, Lilburn Cave in Kings Canyon National Park, CA, and age dating of speleothems in Scotland and England. He also worked extensively to better characterize the regional carbonate aquifer system in Nevada, where Jack was Executive Director of the Division of Hydrologic Sciences and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Desert Research Institute (DRI). During his tenure with DRI, he also served on the faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he taught courses in hydrogeology and low temperature aqueous geochemistry. He served on 35 Graduate Committees (6 Ph.D.) including committee chairman for 18 students (3 Ph.D.). Jack spent a sabbatical as Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Geology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, attached to the Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish Universities Research Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Scotland. During his career, Dr. John W. Hess has published a total of 93 reports, articles, and papers. In 2000-2001, Hess served as a Congressional Science Fellow in the office of Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). Jack moved from academia to work for the Geological Society of America in 2001.
Equal to or perhaps even eclipsing his contributions as a researcher, Jack’s extensive and lifelong service in support of karst science raised awareness of and helped to legitimize karst in the broader scientific community, producing a dramatic increase in karst-related research, much of it interdisciplinary and novel. He was a founding member of both the Butler Cave Conservation Society and Karst Waters Institute. Jack’s contributions include decades of service in a variety of roles at KWI, and service on the Board of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, the International Association of Hydrogeologists Karst Commission, the National Speleological Society Research Advisory Committee, and the Cave Research Foundation (CRF) Lilburn Project Science Committee. Jack was the Co-Chair of UNESCO IGCP 299 – Geology, Climate, Hydrology, and Karst Formation.
As Executive Director of the Geological Society of America (GSA) from 2001 through 2014, Jack was instrumental in the formation of GSA’s Karst Division and supports a fund to support the Division’s annual research grant that bears his name. Jack received the GSA Distinguished Service Award 2015, the same year when he went to work for the Geological Society of America Foundation in Boulder Colorado, from which he retired as President in June 2020.
Dr. Hess is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the National Speleological Society, the Cave Research Foundation and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Jack is a Pennsylvania State University Centennial Fellow and Alumni Achievement Award recipient from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
In his spare time, Jack has been involved with Scouting almost continually since being a Cub Scout in the 1950s. He is a Past-President of the Longs Peak Council and currently serves as Vice Chair for Finance and Administration for the High Desert Council. He is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, and Silver Buffalo Awards. He is a Distinguished Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor Member, and Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award recipient.
Jack lives in Santa Fe, NM with his wife Letitia. They have two Eagle Scout sons, Nathan and Joshua.
Congratulations, Jack, and thank you for all your contributions!