Frank Hawthorne
Fellow
Current Employer
University of Manitoba
Election Year
1990
Academy
Academy of Science
Discipline
Earth Sciences
Department
Department of Geological Sciences
Keywords
Mineralogy, crystallography, spectroscopy, solid-state chemistry, crystal chemistry
As an internationally-respected leader in the crystallography and crystal chemistry of minerals, Dr. Hawthorne has utilized the most advanced physical and chemical analytical methods to characterize the detailed structure of an extreme variety of natural inorganic compounds. By the application of sophisticated mathematical techniques, he has been able to unify the crystal-chemical relationships between nearly all types of non-metallic minerals, and to provide a structurally sound basis for classifying all such minerals. This unified chemical-structural approach has enabled him to lay a fundamental groundwork for interpreting the paragenesis of the minerals in some of the earth's most important rock masses and ore deposits.