Monta Eldo Wing was born in 1897, the second of ten children born and reared on a wheat ranch near Columbus, Kansas. Very early he developed those habits of hard work, self-reliance and personal responsibility that were to mark his entire life. He often walked the five miles to attend elementary and high school in Columbus, yet he found time for winning participation on high school debate teams and in plays, an interest which continued in later life.

Entering the University of Kansas in 1916 with the plan to study law, Monta fell under the influence of Erasmus Haworth and Raymond C. Moore and turned to geology. He became assistant to Dr. Moore and field assistant on the Kansas State Geological Survey which enabled him to pay his college expenses. Graduating in 1920, he continued his studies and received an MA degree in 1921. He began his doctoral work at the University of Chicago. His dissertation, “The Faunal Successions in the Niagran Rocks of Northeastern Illinois,” was written under the supervision of Dr. Stuart Weller.

Now with a PhD cum Lude and a charming wife (he married Martha Robinson of Independence, Missouri, in 1920), he was ready to play a significant role in geology and society. Monta joined the faculty of Beloit College as a one-man Department of Geology in the fall of 1923. He remained there for a quarter of a century, during which time he left an indelible mark on both the department and the college. Subsequently the MA degree in geology was added to prepare outstanding graduates for further study.

The vitality and enthusiasm of the new teacher were such that his classes soon led all the rest in enrollment. He completely renovated the geology department. He emphasized the importance of field work in teaching and his field trips were learning experiences second to none. He organized a science club and built a geological museum. Before long his department enrolled more major students than many universities and he added geography to the curriculum.

Monta also participated extensively in community, campus and student life, was manager of the Faculty Club and was a charter member of the Beloit Little Theatre. During various summers in Beloit, Monta supplemented his small salary by working for the State Geological Surveys of Kansas, Wisconsin and South Dakota. He purchased worn-out land and planted thousands of pine and spruce seedlings, both as a conservation measure and a hedge against the future.

He made a careful survey of the needs of foundries in the Chicago-Milwaukee area and found that they required a very pure silica sand. He discovered such a deposit near Hanover, Wisconsin. By designing and building his own equipment for treatment of the sand, he soon had a thriving business under the name “Wing Sands.” The onset of World War II produced an enormous demand for silica sand and Wing Sands soon was operating throughout the year. Monta continued a grueling pace during the war years by adding supervision of the company to his teaching duties at Beloit.

In 1948 President Carey Croneis granted Monta a long overdue sabbatical leave. He immediately accepted an invitation to join the Military Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey. For the following thirteen years, he filled with distinction a series of foreign assignments which took him to Japan, Chile, Israel and Ethiopia. His work was primarily in the field of mineral resources, the organization of trained personnel for geological work and as mineral resources advisor to the various governments.

In 1950 he resigned his post at Beloit and was immediately sent to Japan where he supervised the collation, translation and publication of numerous manuscripts on the geology of the Far East. Subsequently, as Director of the Minerals Division under the Technical Assistance Program, Monta spent two years in Chile, where he initiated establishment of a Geological Survey of Chile. During this period his mineral exploration covered the entire country from Punta Arenas to the Atacama Desert by Jeep, mule back and on foot.

In 1956 and 1957 Monta was loaned to the State Department for work with the government of Israel, where he dealt with the expansion of their minerals program. The work in Israel was interrupted by the Sinai War in 1956. The Wings were evacuated on short notice to Addis Ababa, where Monta initiated valuable water research for the Ethiopian government until it was safe to return to Israel and complete his mission there.

Returning to Washington he again resumed his post with the Foreign Service Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey, from which he retired in 1961 because of ill health. This retirement was only partial. He accepted a temporary post at the University of Maine for two semesters. When this terminated, he entered upon a fruitful three-year tenure at Muskingum College as temporary chairman of the geology department. At a low ebb when Monta arrived on campus, the geology class soon outgrew their space under his inspiring teaching. His contribution to the college was judged to be so outstanding that upon his retirement after only three years, Monta was appointed professor emeritus.

Monta was skilled not only as a geologist and superb teacher but was equally at home as stonemason, carpenter and builder. He was also knowledgeable in the law which he studied extensively. He was a founding member and early president of the Association of Geology Teachers and a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He was designated Professor of Geology Emeritus by both Beloit and Muskingum Colleges where special scholarship funds for students in geology have been established in his memory.

In 1970 he received the Erasmus Haworth Distinguished Alumni Honors Award from his alma mater and upon retirement from the U.S. Geological Survey in 1961 was awarded the Meritorious Service Award. He was a 32nd degree Mason and fifty-year member of Blue Lodge, Beloit, Wisconsin. He was also affiliated with Sigma Xi and Sigma Gamma Epsilon.

Monta is perhaps best remembered for his human qualities. His personal magnetism and inspirational effect on multitudes of students across a span of three decades is well exemplified by the following excerpt from a letter written by one of them: “I was genuinely touched by the man. His mere presence commanded respect, yet he reached out to all he came in contact with warmth and sincerity. His door was always open, he always had time. He has touched me like many others. We have all grown from the experience.”