Acceptance of the Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2001

Abstract

Mr. President, members of the Society, and guests: I am deeply conscious of the honor involved in receiving this Medal, and I thank the Committee and the Council for their decision, which is always a difficult one. And I thank you, Art Montana, for your generous introduction It is very satisfying to have the research generated in my laboratory by more than 20 students and 20 research associates recognized in this way. I wish that I had space here to acknowledge them individually for their contributions—without their enthusiasm, dedication, and polished finger-tips, ideas would not have been translated into experiments, nor experiments converted into phase diagrams, and phase diagrams would not have been interpreted into petrological processes. They all deserve a share of the Medal, and none more that "Art the dart," who had my lab buzzing loudest during his period with me, about 35 years ago. I must also thank NSF for starting me off with a laboratory as soon as I knew how to write a proposal, and for the years of support since then. The NSF policy of giving young scientists early independence is a great strength of our community.

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