Acceptance of the 2016 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America

Abstract

President Lange, Friends, and Colleagues: What a thrill to be here today, celebrating mineralogy. And Rus. Thank you for those most kind remarks. Your unwavering support, both professional and personal, has played a significant role through most of my career, and I am more grateful than I can easily express. Receiving a medal named for Washington Roebling has special meaning for me, as I feel a kinship with the great engineer in at least two significant ways. First is our mutual love of mineralogy. My passion for minerals was kindled in eighth grade, when I was fortunate to have Wilfred Welsh as my science teacher. Bill Welsh was a soft-spoken, engaged, but initially unassuming teacher. He lined his classroom with glass cases and filled them with beautiful minerals. He observed me lingering after class, examining one specimen after another, and he offered to teach me more. He gave me a starter collection of 100 specimens, mineral field guides, and mimeographed directions to Paterson and Franklin, New Jersey (favored haunts of Washington Roebling, by the way). I visited those great localities again and again, including a memorable Franklin, New Jersey, date with Margee in 1966—50 years ago. We still have fluorescent specimens collected that night. Needless to say, I was hooked—both by mineralogy and by Margee, who has shared in every step of this journey. Fast forward to freshman year at MIT, where my arrival coincided with that of the ebullient, passionate David R. Wones—my mineralogy teacher and subsequent Masters Thesis adviser. What an inspiration Dave was! I had gone to …