Memorial of Ray E. Wilcox, 1912-2012

Abstract

Ray Everett Wilcox, born on March 31, 1912, in Janesville, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully in Lakewood, Colorado, at age 99 on March 12, 2012, only a few weeks away from his 100th birthday. He was a distinguished Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Denver for nearly 40 years. His record of publications spanned 64 years, from 1935–1999, with more than 86 reports and articles. Few scientists establish prominence in a single field, but Ray was exceptional in that he made groundbreaking contributions to two distinctly different disciplines, volcanology–igneous petrology and optical mineralogy. Ray used his extensive knowledge in mineral optics to identify sources of volcanic ash beds and utilize the beds as stratigraphic markers; this work helped solve problems not only in geology, but also in the fields of archeology, botany, and forestry. Ray attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison (where he was a member of Sigma Xi), receiving degrees in geology for his Ph.B. in 1933; his Ph.M. in 1936 (with a thesis on “The solubility of certain silicate materials in body fluids as a factor in silicosis”), and his Ph.D. in 1941 (with a dissertation on “Contact relations between rhyolite and basalt on Gardiner River, Yellowstone Park, Wyoming”). His graduate experience exposed him to some of the outstanding scientists of that era. He held a Geology Fellowship from 1934–1936 with R.C. Emmons (an icon in optical mineralogy and universal stage work) where he worked on developing a rotation apparatus for a modified universal stage and coauthored a paper on mineralogy on silicosis in 1937 (Emmons and Wilcox 1937). Following his tenure with Emmons, he became a teaching assistant for A.N. Winchell from 1936–1939. Ray’s tutelage under Emmons and Winchell gave him a solid foundation of the principles and utility of optical mineralogy, which served …