Raymond Pestrong

I enrolled in Geology 100 in the Fall 1978 semester, earning an A for the course. I can't believe Pestrong is still teaching, he must be a fossil himself by now. This course gave me an appreciation for the subject to the extent that I did end up pursuing career in a similar field (I'm a soil scientist employed with the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service since 1988).

To be fair, Dr. Pestrong was good at illustrating how the field of geology permeates our lives regardless of one's academic interests and how this discipline is tantamount to the socio-political choices made in our living arrangement. But, funny it's the offbeat things about one's personality that we remember best and I'll always remember Pestrong for his quirky, crass and somewhat intimidating nature. He had this odd fixation on particular laws of physics and was engrossed by natural features found in the Half Moon Bay area--kind of gave me the creeps. Basically wind eroded sandstone derived features resembling swiss cheese. One such feature, "The Madonna" was held in special reverence. Does he still talk about this??? I thought so. How about the "1.1 billion years surging through my body" photo from his trip to the Grand Canyon by touching the Vishnu schist with one hand and the overlying strata with the other? Oh dear... By the way, the title about the "foam rocks" refers to a Soupy Sales style of "schtick" employed by the good Doctor.

Whenever I was engaged in soil survey work over the years, using a geology hammer to investigate the welded tuff and basalt that I encountered I always harkened back to the memory of the "Madonna", secretly wishing I could drive down the coast highway, locate it to gaze upon its angelic appearance and summarily smash it into tiny pieces. Then I would study the resulting "angle of repose" like any good earth scientist.

Dr. Pestrong is awesome! He understands that not everyone is a Geo fanatic like he is, he takes that into consideration when planning for his classes. He actually makes Geo fun...I didn't know that was possible! You not only have a good time in his class, you also learn a lot! I walked away from that class feeling very satisfied with what I learned. His projects can be time consuming, although they can be fun if you make them fun! The field trips were great. Exams can be tough...but not impossible if you study your lecture notes. Lectures are very worth while!! Overall a great professor..hopefully everyone at state gets an opportunity to take advantage of Dr. Pestong's knowledge!

Dr. Pestrong is THE BEST!!!!! He is very sweet and respects the fact that not everyone loves Geology. His projects are very fun and he is not strict in grading. His love for Geology is very obvious. Every student gets something from this class. He is funny and all students adore him. I think he is one of the best teachers at SFSU!

Pestrong is one of the best teachers I've had at state. He really cares about geology and his students but he knows we don't really care about him or geology and he uses those two ideas to structure the class into something useful and interesting for even the most uninterested. He really knows his stuff, is open to questions/discussions, has a good sense of humor in that old guy teacher sort of way and is really the best you could hope for in a boring GE class you don't really want to take anyway. I'd definately recomend.

Any teacher that can get a theater major interested in geology must be doing something right. The guy is funny, and he makes the material interesting, while making sure to apply it to the real world. I learned so much in this class. Not the kind of learning in which you memorize facts, spit them out, then forget them - I mean I learned things that I'll really use. His exams are a bit tough- you have to read and take really good notes- but his projects are fun, he gives relatively no homework, and he really cares about whether his students are learning. Great teacher.

I really enjoyed taking this class from a man who knows what he's talking about and he adds it with a kick of humor. He makes learning about faults, plate tectonics, mudslides... REALLY interesting. His projects were very much appropriate for what we were discussing in class, which also aids in helping the student retain the information. PLus, he had also allowed us to see a different side of him when he presented the class with an outside project he was working on his own. It was amazing and you had to really appreciate all the hard work he does outside of class in making the slide presentation a smash.