The son of R.W.D. Bryan (Astronomer under Hall in the Polaris expedition), Bryan received his undergraduate education at the University of New Mexico and later obtained a Ph.D. from Yale University.[1]
Ageomorphologist, he worked primarily in arid regions, and was one of the pioneers in explaining the forces that formed landmasses in those areas.
According to Luna Leopold, one of his students, Bryan was influential as a teacher. In 2004, Leopold wrote:[2]
His students made important advances in a variety of subjects, including alluvial chronology, periglacial and glacial geology, wind action, soil and vegetative effects on landscape development, and archaeology. His influence is indicated by the fact that of the four geologists who have received the National Medal of Science, three were students of Kirk Bryan.[3]
1929. Folsom culture and its age. Geological Society of America Bulletin 40:128-129.
1938. Prehistoric quarries and implements of pre-Amerindian aspect in New Mexico. Science (new series) 87 (229): 343–346.
1941. Geologic antiquity of man in America. Science 93 (2422): 505-514.
K. Bryan and C.C. Albritton. 1943. Soil phenomena as evidence of climate changes. American Journal of Science 241: 469-490.
1950. The Place of Geomorphology in the Geographic Sciences. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep., 1950), pp. 196–208
^Leopold did not provide a list of the National Medal of Science winners to whom he referred, however, two are Robert P Sharp and himself. Earth scientists in addition to Leopold who had received the National Medal of Science at the time of this statement include geochemist Wallace S. Broecker, oceanographer Walter Munk, geophysicist Frank Press, oceanographer Roger Revelle, geologist William Rubey, planetary geologist Eugene Shoemaker, meteorologist Verner Suomi, geophysicist George Wetherill, and geographer Gilbert F. White. None of these men's biographies (other than Leopold's) suggest that they ever studied formally under Bryan, although several may have collaborated with him.
