Astronaut? Yes, you read it correctly - Department of Geology

January 2001THE FIFTH DECADE1934 - 1944 DEPRESSION AND WARAt the beginning of the decade, the combined geology andmineralogy departments had four professors, Manley Baker, EdHawley, Louie Bruce, and Bruce Rose, all graduates of Queen's.A new instructor, Harold W. Fairbairn, another Queen's grad,was added in 1936, but moved on in 1938, ending up at M.I.T forhis Ph.D, where he later continued his teaching career. He wasreplaced by Newton Buerger, who stayed with Queen's till theend of the decade. Mackenzie Keith, M.Sc., Queen's, 1936, wenton to a Ph.D.. at Yale, then joined the department in 1940. MacKeith later became a geochemistry prof at Penn State.. So thedecade ended with six professor to serve the needs of a rapidlyexpanding department. In the first four decades, 93 degrees hadbeen awarded, but 70 degrees were awarded in the fifth decadealone, in spite of a sharp drop-off in numbers in the war years,when so many young men were going into the services instead ofthe universities. No B.A.'s were awarded between 1941 and1946.appear on the Internet site.In addition to 9 Honours B.A.'s, 26 B.Sc.'s, 19 M.A.'s,and 15 M.Sc.'s, this decade saw the Queen's Department ofGeology award it's first Ph. D., to James Merritt Harrison. JimHarrison attended university in his home town of Winnipegbefore coming to Queen's. He obtained his M.A. in 1941 and hisPh.D in 1943. He became the Director of the GSC in 1956, andheld that position till he retired. He died in Ottawa as a result ofa biking accident in 1990. During a distinguished career, hereceived many honours, including honourary degrees from bothManitoba and Queen's. In 1971, he became a companion of theOrder of Canada. Other Queen's grads swelled the ranks of theGSC in Ottawa. Ira Brown got a mining degree in 1940, then anM.Sc. in geology in 1942. After obtaining a Ph.D. at Harvard, hejoined the GSC. A early worker in hydrogeology, he finished hiscareer with the Department of the Environment. Harold Quinnfollowed a similar path, a B.Sc. in Mining (where he was themedallist in 1941), an M.Sc. in Geology in 1942, a Ph.D. in theStates, this time Cornell, and then on to the GSC. However, he isbest known as a world-travelling exploration geologist. One ofhis attention-getting exploits was to donate a $2000 Klondykegold nugget as a door prize at the 1980 Prospectors and DevelopersConvention. Geoffery Leech got an M.Sc. in 1944, then wenton to Princeton for a Ph.D. before joining the GSC. He retired in1982 as Director, Economic Geology Division. Robert J. W.Douglas obtained his B.Sc. in 1942. He later obtained a Ph.D. atQueens before joining the GSC. When he retired, he was the headof the Mineralogy Division. Grant Wright, B.Sc., 1940, M.Sc.,1947, Ph.D., Yale, was another Queensman who ended up withthe GSC, as was Clifton Bartley, B.Sc., 1941.At least two grads from this decade ended up withprovincial geological surveys, Paul Auger in Quebec and DonHewett in Ontario. George Russell, M.Sc. '36, opted for ateaching career, and ended up at Manitoba. The majority of thedecade's graduates found careers in mineral exploration, and thereis just not enough room to describe the careers of all those othersI have some knowledge of. If possible, a list of all graduates willDR. AL GORMAN, NEWSLETTER EDITOR,CELEBRATED HIS 75TH BIRTHDAYOCTOBER 18, 2000.Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering at Queen’s3