Richard Alexander Fullerton Penrose Jr. (December 17, 1863 – July 31, 1931), was an American mining

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and entrepreneur. He was from a prominent

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

family of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

descent. His brothers were U.S. senator

Boies Penrose Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who served as a Republican member of the United States Senate for Pennsylvania from 1897 to 1921. He served as a member of th ...

, mining engineer

Spencer Penrose Spencer Penrose (November 2, 1865 – December 7, 1939) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He made his fortune from mining, ore processing, and real estate speculation in Colorado and other parts of the West. He founded the Utah Copp ...

, and gynecologist

Charles Bingham Penrose Charles Bingham Penrose (February 1, 1862February 28, 1925) was an American gynecologist, surgeon, zoologist and conservationist, known for inventing a type of surgical drainage tubing called the Penrose drain. He was a professor at the Uni ...

, and his grandfather was U.S. politician Charles B. Penrose. Penrose graduated in 1885 with a Ph.D. from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

for work on

phosphates Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphor ...

. Later, he performed geological surveys in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

until 1892, and then traveled the country as a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

. Most notable was his survey of Cripple Creek,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, for the U.S. Geological Survey. Penrose refrained from purchasing or investing in mines in the Cripple Creek area because of what he saw as his ethical responsibility as a

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

employee, but did purchase and invest in mines elsewhere, including silver and copper mines in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. In 1903 his brothers and father were investors who formed the

Utah Copper Company Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the ...

. After his father died in 1908, Penrose made a complete career change, using his knowledge as a mining geologist to succeed as a mining investor and as an entrepreneur in other areas as well. Having amassed considerable wealth in these efforts, Penrose established the

Penrose Medal The Penrose Medal was created in 1925 by R.A.F. Penrose, Jr., as the top prize awarded by the Geological Society of America. Originally created as the Geological Society of America Medal it was soon renamed the Penrose Medal by popular assent of ...

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. Hi ...

(GSA) in 1927. Penrose was very active in GSA: he was elected as a Member of GSA in 1889, served on GSA Council from 1914 to 1916, was GSA vice president in 1919, a member of the Finance Committee from 1924 to 1929, and GSA president in 1930. Upon his death in 1931, he left a generous bequest to GSA, with the remainder of his estate after more minor bequests divided equally between the

and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

of Philadelphia: nearly $4 million went to each society (approximately equivalent to $ million in ). The Penrose bequest serves to support the research grants program of the Geological Society of America. Penrose was also a founding member and president of the

Society of Economic Geologists The Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) is a scientific organization that promotes the study of geology as it relates to mining, mineral exploration, mineral resource classification and mineral extraction. The society's Publication Board publish ...

(SEG), created in 1920 by GSA members who were especially interested in economic geology. Penrose established the

Penrose Gold Medal The R.A.F. Penrose Gold Medal was established in 1923 and is awarded by the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) to recognize a full career in the performance of "unusually original work in the earth sciences". The medal was donated by American ge ...

of the SEG in 1923. In 1905, Penrose was elected to the

. Penrose was President of the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natur ...

1922-1926. Penrose was inducted into the US

National Mining Hall of Fame The National Mining Hall of Fame is a museum located in Leadville, Colorado, United States, dedicated to commemorating the work of miners and people who work with natural resources. The museum also participates in efforts to inform the public ab ...

in 2006.Penrose Inducted
/ref>

References

*Eckel, Edwin B., editor, 1982, The Geological Society of America—Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, p. 14-24. *Helen R. Fairbanks and Charles P. Berkey, ''Life and Letters of R. A. F. Penrose Jr.''
Penrose's relation to the GSA

A Directory of Selected Awards and Medals for the Geosciences (MS Word document, 153 Kb)

GSA Benefactor Inducted into National Mining Hall of FameGeological Society of America – Grants
at www.geosociety.org

External links

R. A. F. Penrose Jr.
at the

''Life and Letters of R. A. F. Penrose, Jr.''
Biography published in 1929 by the

Obituary, Aug. 1, 1931
at the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

1930 Presidential Address: Geology As An Agent In Human Welfare, by R.A.F. Penrose Jr.
Reprinted online by the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penrose, R. A. F. Jr. 1863 births 1931 deaths Harvard University alumni American geologists Businesspeople from Philadelphia United States Geological Survey personnel American people of Cornish descent American founders Economic geologists Presidents of the Geological Society of America Penrose family Members of the American Philosophical Society

See also

References

External links