Mary Emma Wagner, of Kennett Square, geologist, published researcher, and retired adjunct professor of geology at the University of Pennsylvania, has passed away at age 97, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

As an expert on magma, the Earth’s crust, and the development of the Appalachian Mountains in Chester and Delaware Counties, Dr. Wagner earned a master’s degree in geology in 1966 and a doctorate from Bryn Mawr College in 1972. She taught classes at Penn from 1972 to 1993. 

Dr. Wagner completed extensive fieldwork in Pennsylvania and Delaware with students and geologists. She shared her research in the American Journal of Science, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, and other publications.  

In 1991, Dr. Wagner provided research about the “taconic collision of the Delaware-Pennsylvania Piedmont and implications for subsequent geologic history.” She served on the northeast regional board of directors for the Geological Society of America and was the president of the Philadelphia Geological Society in the 1980s. She won research grants from both the National Science Foundation and the Pew Foundation. 

“She was a role model,” said her daughter, Betsy. “She was quiet and unassuming. But she was full of life and dedicated to her friends and family.” 

Read more about Mary Emma Wagner’s life and career at The Philadelphia Inquirer.