The difficulty in preparing a citation for Fred Hilterman is in keeping it brief. His accomplishments are many, his interests diverse, his energy prodigious, and his brain always active. He thrives on games and sports and can be intensely competitive, as many will agree. Geophysics provides both fun and intellectual challenge to Fred, and the profession benefits greatly from his enthusiasm, creativity, and persistence.
     Fred was born in 1941 and grew up in Pittsburgh, then Denver. He received a scholarship from the State of Colorado (1959) which he applied at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) since it was strong in physics, mathematics, and the work ethic. Fortunately for us, Fred chose to major in geophysics.
     At this time he met, courted, and married Kathi, a very capable young lady with her own keen sense of fun and adventure. They are an extremely talented combination which proved effective in following a Mobil seismic field crew around Texas and Louisiana through 1963-66. Then it was back to CSM for a PhD (1966-70) on Mobil and NASA scholarships.
     Fred's thesis work was a typical example of what his energy, enthusiasm, insight, and talent can accomplish. This thorough and innovative work on analog seismic modeling and the theory of diffractions led to an extremely practical method for theoretical seismograms. "Three-dimensional seismic modeling" (1970) was a classic, highly advanced for that time, and won the Best Paper Award in Geophysics. The next year Fred won CSM's prestigious VanDiest Gold Medal.
     Fred returned to Mobil in 1970 and applied his talents to the development and exploitation of bright spot technology within an effective multidisciplinary group under the leadership of Al Musgrave. Fred thrived on this interaction with exploration and production groups and regards it as one of his career highlights.
     He then moved to the Mobil Field Research Laboratory and pioneered in 3-D field work before pursuing his love of teaching by becoming a professor at the University of Houston (1973). Fred rapidly made his presence known by combing with Keith Wang (in electrical engineering) to initiate the Seismic Acoustics Laboratory (SAL) with the objective of providing 3-D modeling developments for a consortium of industrial companies. He was able to get 26 sponsors and highly successful projects, and his efforts were recognized by SEG with the award of the Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal (1984).
     Fred's excess energy overflowed from the university into Amoco's internal geophysical training schools, helping to educate some 700 explorationists over a period of seven years. He was also the main developer, along with Don Larson, of GeoQuest's widely used Advanced Interpretive Modeling System (AIMS).
     In 1981 Fred, Reg Neale, and myself cofounded Geophysical Development Corporation. Here Fred has exploited the amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) relationships between seismic data, well logs, petrophysics and the real world of interpretation, a problem tough enough to soak up even Fred's energy and creativity.
     Fred's services to SEG are extensive: Continuing Education instructor, Distinguished Lecturer, Associate Editor of Geophysics, 1982-83 SEG Vice-President, TLE Editorial Board chairman, 1991 Annual Meeting Technical Program Chairman, 1995 Annual Meeting General Chairman, and now the 1995-96 SEG President-Elect.
     As if that weren't enough to do, Fred and Kathi, aided and abetted by daughters Kellee and Nanci, bought a 200-acre ranch some 120 miles from Houston and renovated it with new fences, new pastures, bulls, 100 head of cattle, and a stable of ranch trucks, bulldozers, tractors, all-terrain vehicles, and endless equipment.
     SEG is honored to recognize Fred's many contributions with this fitting award of Honorary Membership.

     John W. C. Sherwood