Walter Hermann Bucher

{{short description|American paleontologist}}

{{Infobox academic

| name = Walter Hermann Bucher

| image =

| caption = Geologist

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1888|3|12}}

| birth_place = Akron, Ohio, United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1965|2|17|1888|3|12}}

| death_place = {{nowrap|Houston, Texas, USA}}

| children =

| spouse =

| discipline = Geology

| workplaces = Columbia University, University of Cincinnati (United States)

| alma_mater = University of Heidelberg

| doctoral_advisor =

| thesis_title =

| thesis_year = 1911

| academic_advisors =

| notable_students = Arthur K. Gilkey

| known_for = Theory of the Earth's pulsation

| awards = {{Plainlist|

• Bownocker Medal (1938)
• William Bowie Medal (1955)
• Leopold-von-Buch-Plakette (1955)
• Penrose Medal (1960)

}}

| signature =

}}

Walter Hermann Bucher (March 12, 1888 – February 17, 1965) was a German-American geologist and paleontologist.

He was born in Akron, Ohio, to Swiss-German parents. The family then returned to Germany, where he was raised.

In 1911 he was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Heidelberg with a focus on geology and paleontology. The same year he returned to the U.S. and joined the University of Cincinnati as a lecturer. By 1924 he was a professor of geology at the institution.

His early works were on paleontology, and he performed studies of stromatolettia, oolites, and ripple-shaped markings. Later he concentrated on the Earth's crust diastrophism problem and proposed firstly (immediate and independent{{clarify|date=May 2018}} with Mikhail Tetyaev) the pulsation hypothesis of the Earth developing.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0016756800093420 | volume=71 | title=The Deformation of the Earth's Crust: By Walter H. Bucher. pp. 518, with 100 figures. Princeton University Press, 1933. | journal=Geological Magazine | year=1934 | pages=329–332| last1=w. j. Mcc | issue=7 | bibcode=1934GeoM...71..329W | s2cid=131159736 }}

In 1935 he became president of the Ohio Academy of Sciences. In 1940 he joined the Columbia University, specializing in structural geology. It is thought that at this time he worked as a consultant on the Manhattan Project, hypothesizing how the detonation of the atomic bomb could affect the Earth's crust. In the same year he joined the National Research Council, as a consultant as chairman of the Division of Geology and Geography. In 1946 he was elected president of the New York Academy of Sciences, and from 1950 until 1953 he served as president of the American Geophysical Union. He was also president of the Geological Society of America (1955) and received their Penrose Medal in 1960.Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., {{ISBN|0-8137-1155-X}}.

From 1920 onward, Bucher was noted for his studies in cryptovolcanic structures, significant deformations of the crust of the Earth, and structural geology.

He died in Houston, Texas.