Robert Balk, college professor and geologist, was born May 31, 1899 in Reval, Estonia. In 1904, the family moved to Dusseldorf where Balk received his early education. After World War I, Balk began graduate studies at Greifswald and eventually entered the University of Breslau where he received his Ph.D. in 1923. At Breslau, Balk was a pupil of Hans Cloos and a classmate of Hans's younger brother, Ernst Cloos. Ernst and Robert remained friends throughout their careers in the United States. During his career, Balk applied techniques taught by Hans Cloos to his (Balk's) study of intrusive rocks and to a wide variety of geologic materials. Balk also studied the origin of anorthosites, the mode of intrusion of salt domes, and the relationships of ancient thrust faults in metamorphic terranes.

Dr. Balk was dedicated to what he considered "pure research." He believed that geology was his calling, and he did not allow his work to be subsidized by the interests of field industries.

In 1924, Balk came to the United States and assumed a position as assistant in the Department of Geology, Columbia University. Balk used the weekends and holidays to pursue independent field work and to acquaint himself with the geology of New York city and the immediate environs. He financed his own structural survey of the Cortlandt norite, 38 miles north of the city. In 1926, he was hired by the New York State Museum to map a quadrangle in the central Adirondacks. Balk taught at Hunter College, 1928-1935, but the teaching load was heavy and limited his time for field research. In 1934, Balk drove across the United States and spent the winter at Stanford University.

In 1935, Balk moved to Mt. Holyoke College as chairman of the Geology Department, a position which allowed more time for field work and research. Balk completed several major projects during this period. He published "Structural Behaviour of Igneous Rocks" (Memoir 5 of the Geological Society) and edited Geology of North America, published by Borntraeger in Germany. In the field, he undertook to map several quadrangles for the Geological Survey in Massachusetts. Balk was always eager to have students go into the field and learn geology first hand. At Mt Holyoke, he organized field trips and set up practical laboratories away from the classroom.

In 1947, Balk left Mt. Holyoke for the University of Chicago, but the remoteness from the field was an ever-present problem. In 1952, Balk accepted an offer to join the New Mexico Bureau of Mines as Principal Geologist. Balk was president of the section of Tectonophysics of the Geophysical Union and participated in activities of the National Research Council. Balk was enroute to a meeting of a National Research Council committee in Washington when the plane in which he traveled crashed. Robert Balk died, February 19, 1955.