Prof. Samuel B Mukasa

Professor Samuel B Mukasa is Executive Vice President and Provost Emeritus at the State 
University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Before that role, he 
served as Professor and Department Chair for Environmental Sciences at the University of 
Michigan, and Dean for Colleges of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota 
and University of New Hampshire. He holds a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the University of 
California, Santa Barbara, M.Sc. in geology from Ohio State University, and B.Sc. in geology 
from the University of New Hampshire. He also received a D.EnvSc. honorary degree from 
Nkumba University in Uganda. He did his postdoctoral research fellowship at Columbia 
University, New York. 
Mukasa’s research interests focus on the origin of Earth’s geochemical structure, plate 
tectonic evolution of the continents, and climate change. He and his research team have 
deployed petrologic and geochemical methods, specifically integrated use of trace 
elements and Pb, Nd, Sr, Hf, and Os isotopes to model the petrogenesis of rocks and 
mineral deposits from Earth’s interior. Also, they have applied U/Pb and 40Ar/39Ar 
geochronology to calculate the rates of various geologic processes. He and his group have 
published over 200 research papers in world-renowned journals which so far have received 
about 48,000 reads and 6,500 citations. 
He is Past President of the Geochemical Society, Past Chair of the Advisory Board for the 
OVice of Polar Programs at the US National Science Foundation, Past Member of the US 
Polar Research Board, and a member of several US National Academy of Sciences 
committees. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and a Fellow of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Mukasa was born in Kenya to Ugandan parents and remains committed to his heritage and 
the advancement of science and engineering throughout Africa