HGS Past President Denise M. Stone passed away May 3 2025
With great sadness, we remember Denise M. Stone, a distinguished geoscientist and volunteer society leader of AAPG, HGS, and RMAG, who had a long and successful career as a petroleum geologist and consultant in Houston. Denise passed away May 3, 2025 in Centennial, Colorado, after battling cancer. Denise was a great friend to many people and a positive go-getter in all her endeavors in life. She fearlessly loved to travel, especially to Rome, Italy, and cared deeply about her friends, be they geologists or non-geologists; her family, especially her mother Clara; and her pet dogs.
Denise Stone is remembered for her leadership roles at AAPG and HGS. She recently served as AAPG Treasurer 2020-2022, delivering a clear financial overview to AAPG members by publishing in the AAPG Explorer, contributing to AAPG Executive Committee meetings, and presenting at AAPG member Zoom meetings during the Covid-19 crisis. Denise served as Houston Geological Society as President from 2002-2003, and also served HGS as Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer in the 1990s and 2000s. Denise coined the phrase "NeoGeos" as a name for the young professional HGS committee group that continues today.
In addition to being AAPG Treasurer, Denise served AAPG for over 20 years in the AAPG House of Delegates, including being elected chair of the Houston HOD in 2007-2008, and volunteering on the AAPG Advisory Council, Publications Committee and serving as Associate Editor of the AAPG Bulletin. Denise is the co-author of AAPG Memoir 104 (2013), "Oil and Gas Fields of the Cook Inlet Basin, Alaska", with David Hite.
Her geology adventures started with her bachelor's degree in geology at Texas Christian University in 1979, followed by a master's degree in geology at Memphis State University in 1981. In an AAPG interview, Denise said she had a strong interest in geology during her first year of college. She decided to major in the field and was eventually encouraged by her professor to join the AAPG board. According to Stone, what sparked her interest was seeing the "organization to the solid earth beneath my feet", as well as "being in the field and seeing the relationships," as opposed to reading about them in textbooks.
See Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_M._Stone.
Denise Stone spent 40 years working in the oil and gas industry in Houston, Texas, and also on oil and gas exploration projects in the North Sea. She worked for fourteen years as a senior geologist at Superior Oil International and Mobil. Stone joined the Amoco Production Company in Houston as an exploration geologist and petrophysicist from 1985 until 2003. Denise Stone attended Jones Graduate School of Business from 1996 to 1997 as part of its management program.
