Clifford Andrae Hopson — outdoorsman, mountaineer, geologist, professor, devoted father and grandfather — died August 24, 2026, in Santa Barbara, California, at age 98.
Born February 2, 1928, in Portland, Oregon, to Eric Ernest and Gertrude Andrae Hopson, Cliff moved with his family to California in 1930. His father, a civil engineer who built highways through the state’s national forests and parks, kept the family moving — winters in the Bay Area, summers in the mountains. Cliff grew up hiking, camping, hunting, trout fishing, and exploring the High Sierra, a childhood that shaped the rest of his life. He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, where he excelled in science, violin, track, and football.
After serving as a Combat Engineer testing cold-weather gear in the US Army from 1946 to 1947, Cliff returned home with a new passion for mountain climbing, and he chose a career that would let him combine science with fieldwork in the mountains he loved. He earned an associate degree in geology from the College of Marin, a bachelor’s from Stanford University, pursued graduate studies at the University of Washington, and completed his PhD at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1955, with doctoral research at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory. During this time, he led a seven-week family pack trip on horses and mules through the Sequoia-Kings Canyon backcountry, climbed and ski-mountaineered in Yosemite with the Stanford Alpine Club, and made a first ascent of Sugarloaf Dome alongside the legendary Swiss climber John Salathé.
Cliff taught geology at Johns Hopkins University from 1955 to 1964 and then at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1964 until his retirement in 1993. His research sought to understand the complexities of plate tectonics, and how mountains, volcanoes, and ocean floors form and evolve — work that took him from Alaska and the Washington Cascades to Oman, Russia, China, Tibet, Costa Rica, and the deep-sea trenches of the Atlantic and Pacific, including dives a mile and a half beneath the ocean’s surface in the Navy submersible Alvin. He mentored generations of graduate students and was honored in 2008 with a tribute volume from colleagues, Ophiolites, Arcs, and Batholiths: A Tribute to Cliff Hopson.
In September 1955, Cliff married Mary Dickson Arrowood (“Dickie”); their loving partnership lasted nearly 65 years. Dickie joined him on climbing trips, backpacking expeditions, and canoe journeys. The two shared a deep love of opera and were season ticket holders of the San Francisco and Los Angeles Operas. Together they raised three children who inherited their parents’ love of both music and the outdoors.
Cliff was preceded in death by Dickie. He is survived by his children, Forrest Hopson (Kim) of Reno, Nevada; Erin Johnson of Santa Barbara; and Eric Hopson (Brenda) of Naples, New York; three grandchildren, Mattias Johnson (Sandy), Tarn Johnson (Alex), and Emma Hopson; and one great-granddaughter, Audrey Johnson.
A celebration of life will be held at 3 pm, October 26, at Vista Del Monte Retirement Community. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UCSB Earth Sciences Department, the Los Angeles Opera, or the Sierra Club Foundation.
