Bill Breed
Breed was curator of geology at the museum from 1960 to 1981 and an expert in plate tectonics. It was on an expedition to Antarctica in 1969 with paleontologist E.H. Colbert of the museum that Breed discovered 220-million-year-old fossils of the reptile Lystrosaurus that confirmed continental drift to the satisfaction of most paleontologists, and to geologists in general.
He was a renowned expert on the Grand Canyon and contributed maps and papers on land formations in the Canyon to many scientific journals as well as articles for lay audiences. He helped David Attenborough find locations in the Grand Canyon for several of his scenes in the TV series, “Life on Earth.”
Over his career, he received several awards, including the Antarctic Service Medal (National Science Foundation); Gladys Cole Award (Geological Society of America) and the Fulbright Scholarship. He is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Arizona Academy of Science.
Breed left the museum in 1981 and became a self-described “peripatetic naturalist,” leading nature trips to places including Alaska, Galapagos, New Zealand and Namibia.