Originally published on December 26, 2021.
Stonnie Pollock is a justifiably proud and thriving SUU graduate—a member of a large extended family of high achievers who can claim Thunderbird status—and he can, with some amount of modesty, trace his success to a caring SUU faculty.
Growing up in Bryce Valley, Utah, he was drawn to a career in geology and, after earning a master’s degree in that field, became a petroleum geologist. He spent a couple of decades in various and increasingly responsible positions as a geologist with Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd., a family-owned oil and ranching company operating since 1913, and now serves as the company’s exploration manager, traveling the world seeking new horizons in energy.
“Growing up in southern Utah made me naturally interested in the beautiful surroundings. I wanted to know where the fossils, rocks and minerals originated,” he says.
He says that he did not begin his SUU years as a geology major, as “I lacked the confidence to learn the math, chemistry, and physics that a geology degree requires. After taking a Geology 101 class from Dr. (Richard) Kennedy, I was hooked and declared my major the following quarter.”
Along the way in his SUU career, he says, “with enough hard work, passion, and dedication, along with great professors, I was able to learn difficult subjects like chemistry, calculus and physics.”
Stonnie says that his physical science composite degree from SUU put him ahead of his fellow MS degree seekers at NMSU.
“SUU provided a strong physical science core which enabled immediate focus on my thesis research and to finish my advanced degree in two years. The geology program at SUU prepared me for field and lab research and my geology professors instilled passion and confidence which served me well in graduate school and throughout my professional career.”
He and his wife Francine are parents to three sons and a daughter.
