In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus George Dunne

It is with a sad and heavy heart that we inform you that Dr. George Dunne, professor emeritus at CSUN, has passed away.

George passed peacefully in Colorado on Thursday, July 30, 2026, he was 83 years old. He is survived by his wife, Natasha, his daughter Aleta, and step-daughter Svetlana.

He started at CSUN in the fall of 1972 after earning his Ph.D. from Rice University, and dedicated 32 years to us before retiring in the Spring of 2003. During his tenure at CSUN, George was department chair multiple times and served as primary faculty advisor for 10 master’s theses. George loved teaching structure and field, and led many of our Fall Field Frolics.

There will be a celebration of life to be held at CSUN on Friday, Oct. 16th from 4pm – 8pm for Dr. George Dunne. If you are interested in attending, please email us at mari.flores@csun.edu and we’ll get an invite sent out to you ASAP. If there is anyone you think may like to attend, please have them contact us as well.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial donations be made to the California State University Northridge (CSUN) Department of Geological Sciences in memory of Dr. George Dunne. Your gift will honor Dr. Dunne’s enduring commitment to Earth Sciences, education and the students and colleagues whose lives he touched. To make a gift online, please visit [https://engage.csun.edu/GeologicalSciDept] (cut and paste the link into a browser if the link is not functional). *Note – please ensure to click on the “This gift is in honor or memory of someone” box and notate the gift is in memory of Dr. George Dunne. You can also make a check payable to the “CSUN Foundation” CSUN Foundation 18111 Nordhoff Street Valera Hall 110 Northridge, CA 91330-8296.

Natasha would like to create a photo montage, so if you have some pictures of George you’d like to share please email them directly to her at rngalvez@gmail.com as soon as possible.

George will be greatly missed and remembered fondly by many of us. We hope to see many of you there.