Ken P. Kodama has transformed sedimentary paleomagnetism through his recognition of compaction-induced inclination shallowing, and he has led the community in developing rock magnetic cyclostratigraphy. In both areas, Ken’s work has enabled countless advances in paleomagnetism, tectonics, and paleoclimate. Early in his career, Ken recognized that even postdepositional remanent magnetizations can reflect inclination shallowing, induced during compaction. In a series of more than 25 papers, Ken and his students went on to develop rock magnetic tests and corrections for compaction effects, including insightful work on the shallowing of remanences held by hematite in red beds. Ken’s work was instrumental in resolving paradoxes posed by the apparent motion of some tectonostratigraphic terranes in Alaska and California, and today no reference apparent polar motion path for a continent can be considered complete unless inclination shallowing is addressed. Ken’s leadership in sedimentary magnetism can be seen in his two books, Paleomagnetism of Sedimentary Rocks: Process and Interpretation (2012) and Rock Magnetic Cyclostratigraphy, with Linda Hinnov (2014). In the latter, Ken and his colleagues demonstrate how rock magnetic data can record Milankovitch cycles, opening the study of an untapped repository of records of past orbital forcing. Ken has brilliantly applied this approach to solve a frontier problem: the duration of the Ediacaran Shuram excursion, the largest carbon isotope excursion in Earth’s history. Ken and his students obtained consistent values of 8.4 million years from sites in China, North America, and Australia, providing both a key demonstration of the technique and a fundamental constraint on this extreme perturbation of the carbon cycle. Ken has a long-standing and exemplary record of service to the AGU Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism, and Electromagnetism (GPE) section. It is hard to overstate the value of a detailed but supportive review of student work, on a one-on-one basis. Ken has spent countless hours discussing the finer points of rock magnetism with students. Conversations with Ken at AGU poster sessions have become not only a rite of passage for students, but also a source of endless inspiration. Ken’s work embodies discovery, method development, sustained scientific impact, and service to the community. He is most deserving of recognition by the GPE section’s William Gilbert Award. —John A. Tarduno, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y

I am very grateful to receive the 2023 William Gilbert Award from the GPE section of AGU in recognition of work done over the course of 45 years, all the more amazing when you think that much of my research dealt with squeezing mud! It is typical in these types of acceptance speeches to acknowledge all those who brought you to this point. There are scores of individuals who have guided me along the way. Allan Cox, my dissertation adviser, was important in starting me on the path I followed, looking at factors that affected the accuracy of sedimentary paleomagnetic remanence. But as I look back, I realize it is my students who have really brought me to this point. I had in mind a direction I wanted to go with my research, but they brought in the diversity of perspectives and creative insights that moved the work forward. In big and small ways, they made the lab a dynamic place. When I first arrived at Lehigh, education there was essentially focused on undergraduates. Working with those bright undergraduates so new to our field and even to geology, was wonderful because they could truly think “outside the box.” The whole idea of electrostatic attraction between magnetite and clay as a mechanism for inclination shallowing came from one of those undergraduates. Her insight was not quite fully formed, but it led me in the right direction. Soon after that a series of master’s students helped in the design of meticulous experiments to test and support that initial breakthrough. Much later, in our work detecting climate cycles in rock magnetic cyclostratigraphy, a Ph.D. student showed me that we could use susceptibility measurements, instead of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM). I had been determined to have him measure the ARM of hundreds of samples, but he pointed out that susceptibility measurements were easier and quicker, and they required cheaper, more widely available equipment. And that they are just as good as ARM at detecting climate cycles. Now this method is used by a whole range of Earth scientists. This is just a small sample of how I have learned and grown from working with each and all my students: undergraduates, master’s students, and Ph.D. students. Add to this the collaboration and critiques of colleagues and one can see how the science really works. Together we move the work forward. Thank you again. —Kenneth P. Kodama, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.