CUYLER, ROBERT HAMILTON (1908-1944). Robert Hamilton Cuyler, teacher and geologist, was born in Austin, Texas, on May 28, 1908, the son of Henry and Sarah (McBryde) Cuyler. The family moved to North Carolina in 1911 and returned to Austin six years later. Cuyler graduated from high school in Austin at the age of fifteen. He then enrolled at the University of Texas and received his B.A. in 1926, M.A. in 1927, and Ph.d. in 1931. In 1927 he married Esther Arsinoe Solcher and began his teaching career with an instructorship in the UT geology department. By 1935 he had risen to assistant professor, and in 1939 he was promoted to associate professor. As a teacher he was popular for his high standards and the camaraderie he shared with his students. His professional interests were mainly focused on the study of micropaleontology and subsurface geology. In addition to his teaching, Cuyler worked in the oil industry, in association with John F. Camp of San Antonio. In 1940 Cuyler proposed the "Well Logging Project" to the WPA, which for the next two years made "copies of all logs and other subsurface data on wells drilled in Texas." Cuyler was active in several professional associations, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Geological Society of America; he was a member of the University Presbyterian Church.

Cuyler entered the United States Army Air Force as a first lieutenant in July 1942 and was promoted to captain in 1943. While in the armed forces he served as assistant director of the Ground Training Technical Advisory Unit, Central Instructors School, in Randolph, Texas, where pilots used his handbook, Maps, Charts, and Aerial Photographs, in training. Cuyler was killed on a training mission near Blanco on March 13, 1944. He was posthumously granted a Legion of Merit Medal in 1945.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Austin American, March 15, 1944. Fred M. Bullard, "Robert Hamilton Cuyler (1908-1944)," Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 28 (August 1944). Daily Texan, March 16, 1944, December 21, 1945.

Kris Ercums