The Society of Economic Geologists Awards for 2005 R. A. F. Penrose Gold Medal for 2004 Citation of Brian J. Skinner

Abstract

Mr. President, members and guests: It is a great pleasure to be presenting Brian J. Skinner as the Society of Economic Geologists 2005 Penrose Gold Medalist. To help Brian celebrate his award, we are joined by his wife, Cathy, to whom we extend a very warm welcome. Brian is the 40th recipient of the SEG’s Penrose Gold Medal but it is not the first award he has received from our Society. In 1981 he was awarded the inaugural Silver Medal, and in 2002 he received the Ralph W. Marsden Award. With the award of the 2005 Penrose Gold Medal, he becomes the first person to have received all three of these awards from the SEG. In addition, the Brian J. Skinner Award is named in his honor. This is an exceptional record of recognition and a truly remarkable achievement. The Penrose Medal recognizes a full career in the performance of “unusually original work in the earth sciences.” By any measure, Brian’s career has been full, and the prestigious Penrose Gold Medal is appropriate recognition of his “unusually original work in the earth sciences.” Brian is an unusually original leader in the earth sciences and there would be few here tonight who haven’t been influenced in one way or another by his leadership, either as a researcher, teacher, writer, editor, speaker, or administrator. As a researcher, Brian led teams at the U.S. Geological Survey, and later at Yale University, that gave us new insights into the phase relationships of ore-forming minerals, particularly the sulfosalts and the platinum-group minerals. This research and the findings of his other investigations are reported …