Suzanne Mahlburg Kay (née Mahlburg) is the William & Katherine Snee Professor of Geological Sciences at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. She studies the origin and evolution of the continental crust. She is a Fellow of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

, the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

and the

Mineralogical Society of America The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) is a scientific membership organization. MSA was founded in 1919 for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, ...

Early life and education

Kay studied at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, earning a Master's degree in 1972. She completed her PhD at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in mineralogy and petrology. She worked at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

as a postdoctoral fellow. Kay joined

as a postdoctoral researcher in 1976. She was a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Fellow at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

in 1989. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992 and Professor in 1999.

Research

Kay studies the origin and evolution of the continental crust, looking at how regional tectonics are linked to magmatic processes. She investigates rocks and minerals using

neutron activation analysis Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is the nuclear process used for determining the concentrations of elements in many materials. NAA allows discrete sampling of elements as it disregards the chemical form of a sample, and focuses solely on atomic ...

inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a type of mass spectrometry that uses an inductively coupled plasma to ionize the sample. It atomizes the sample and creates atomic and small polyatomic ions, which are then detected. It is ...

mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...

and

electron microscopes An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...

. She focuses on the Andean crust in central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. She has looked at the evolution of mid-

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

magmatic rocks in the Andean subduction zone. She also investigates the Punta Altiplano.

Professional service

She served as president of the

in 2013 to 2014, and the

Dana Medal Committee between 2013 and 2015. Kay serves on the board of editors of the

Journal of South American Earth Sciences The ''Journal of South American Earth Sciences'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It covers the earth sciences, primarily on issues that are relevant to South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Antarct ...

. She is on the selection fellows committee of the

Awards and honours

2023 Penrose Medal by the

] 2015 Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina 2012

Geology Alumni Achievement Award 2011 Fellow of the

2008 Fellow of the

2007

American Association of Petroleum Geologists The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with more than 40,000 members across 129 countries as of 2021. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as ...

Outstanding Educator Award 2000

Distinguished Service Award

Books

2009 ''Backbone of the Americas: Shallow Subduction, Plateau Uplift, and Ridge and Terrane Collision'' 2008 ''Field Trip Guides to the Backbone of the Americas in the Southern and Central Andes: Ridge Collision, Shallow Subduction, and Plateau Uplift'' 2006 ''Evolution of an Andean Margin: A Tectonic and Magmatic View from the Andes to the Neuquén Basin (35 Degrees-39 Degrees S Lat)'' 1990 ''Plutonism from Antarctica to Alaska''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Suzanne Mahlburg Cornell University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American geologists University of Illinois alumni Brown University alumni