Frank S. Spear
Frank S. Spear | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Amherst College (BA, 1971) University of California, Los Angeles (PhD, 1976) |
| Awards | Dana Medal (2008) Murchison Medal (2012) Walter H. Bucher Medal (2024) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Metamorphic Petrology |
| Institutions | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Doctoral advisor | W. Gary Ernst |
Frank Spear is an American metamorphic petrologist, with particular expertise in the evolution of the Earth’s crust, and the quantification and modelling of pressure, temperature, time and deformation histories of metamorphic rocks. His work has been recognised with many awards, including the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America; the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London and the Walter H. Bucher Medal of the American Geophysical Union.
Education
Spear studied geology at Amherst College for his bachelors degree, and then moved to the University of California, Los Angeles for his doctoral research. He completed a thesis on the stability of amphiboles under the guidance of petrologist Gary Ernst.[1]
Career
After completing his PhD, Spear was a research fellow at the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution, Washington, and then took up a faculty position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978. In 1985, Spear moved to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[1]
In 2008, Spear was awarded the Dana medal of the Mineralogical Society of America in recognition of his work on the petrology of metamorphic rocks. In presenting the award, geologist Matthew Kohn listed three of Spear’s qualities as ‘looking inside the box before you think outside it’; 'having a sense of humour' and ‘being persistent’. He also noted that Spear’s work had been instrumental in starting the field of the quantitative analysis of the pressure – temperature – time histories of metamorphic rocks, and their use in tectonic studies. [2]
Book
Spear is best known for his Big Blue Book on metamorphic phase equilibria, which was first published in 1993 and so-called on account of its colour and size.[1]
Spear, F.S. (1993). Metamorphic Phase Equilibria and Pressure-Temperature-Time Paths. Washington, D.C.: Mineralogical Society of America. p. 799. ISBN 0-939950-34-0.
Selected awards
- N.L. Bowen Award, American Geophysical Union (1997)[1]
- Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America (2007)[2]
- Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2007)[3]
- Murchison Medal, Geological Society of London (2012)[4]
- Walter H. Bucher Medal of the American Geophysical Union (2024)[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Peacock, Simon; Spear, Frank (June 9, 1998). "Spear receives 1997 Norman L. Bowen Award". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 79 (22): 259–261. doi:10.1029/98EO00193 – via Wiley Online Library.
- ^ a b Kohn, Matthew J. (2008). "Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Dana Medal for 2007 to Frank S. Spear" (PDF).
- ^ "Professor Elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union | Newswise". www.newswise.com.
- ^ "Society Awards for 2012". Journal of the Geological Society. 169 (5): 501–502. September 9, 2012. doi:10.1144/0016-76492012-Awa – via CrossRef.
- ^ "Rensselaer Geochemist Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award | News". news.rpi.edu.