Longtime Fort Hays State University professor Dr. John Heinrichs died Saturday, according to university officials.

Heinrichs served as chairman of FHSU’s Department of Geosciences.

The professor was well-known throughout the community and also served as chairman of the Ellis County Wellhead Protection Committee. He was published often in the field of climatology, according to the university’s website.

“John has been a wonderful teacher, colleague and friend. We will all miss him terribly,” wrote Paul Faber, dean of FHSU’s arts and sciences department, in an email to faculty. “His service to his students and colleagues as a professor and then chair of the Department of Geosciences has always been exemplary, and his desire to make the world a better place has been obvious in his service to the university and to the community at large. On behalf of the university, I want to extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Maureen Duffy and to their families.”

Heinrichs received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his doctorate in geography from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Among many other honors, he was named the 2008 President’s Distinguished Scholar at FHSU.

Arrangements are pending.