Frank C. Hawthorne was born in Bristol, England, on January 8, 1946, and went to Bishop Road Primary School, Bristol. In 1956, he moved to Maidenhhead, Berkshire, and went to Maidenhead Grammar School where he focused on Mathematics, Physics and Geography, played rugby, hockey, cricket, and did athletics (track and field). He played rugby for Maidenhead Rugby Club and cricket for the village of Cookham Dean. From late 1962 onward, he was exposed to early English rock-and-roll at pubs and clubs on the periphery of London. In 1964, he entered Imperial College, London, to study Pure Geology, play rugby, hockey and cricket, and drink the occasional pint of beer. His B.Sc. thesis work, 3 months on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, convinced him that Geology was a good career choice.
He graduated in 1968 and went to McMaster University to do a Ph.D. under the supervision of the crystallographer Douglas Grundy. He worked in the Materials Research Institute and had hands-on use of single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffractometers and Mössbauer spectroscopy. He graduated with a Ph.D. in 1973 and went on to a post-doctoral position with Professor Robert Ferguson in Geological Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. After two years, he became a Research Associate, then University Research Fellow, Professor, Distinguished University Professor in 1997, Tier-I Canada Research Chair 2000-2014, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2018. He developed a large laboratory: several X-ray diffractometers with rotating-anode sources, polarized infrared and polarized Raman spectroscopy, bulk and milli-Mössbauer spectroscopy, electron microprobe and a micro-SIMS, and formed a consortium with other local scientists to have access to Magic-Angle-Spinning NMR, Atomic Force Microscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. His scientific ideas have been strongly influenced by David Brown, Bob Shannon, Jeremy Burdett and Elena Sokolova. He has spent a total of 4 years in Italy working with Roberta Oberti, Luciano Ungaretti, Giuseppe Rossi and Giancarlo Della Ventura on various aspects of amphibole-supergroup minerals.
2025 · Penny Codding Lecturer, American Crystallographic Association
2024 · 300th Anniversary Gold Medal, Russian Academy of Sciences
· Elected Honorary Fellow, Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
2021 · Elected Fellow, American Crystallographic Association
2020 · Elected Member, Academia Europeae
2018 · Appointed Companion of the Order of Canada
· Buerger Medal, American Crystallographic Association
· Elected Member, Institute of Physics
· Appointed Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba
2017 · Fersman Medal, Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences
2016 · Elected Honorary Fellow, Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia
· Special issue of The Canadian Mineralogist (Jan. 2016, Vol. 54, No. 1), “A Tribute to Frank Christopher Hawthorne”
2015 · Elected Life Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
· Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America
· Elected Honorary Fellow, Russian Mineralogical Society
2013 · Roebling Medal, Mineralogical Society of America
· Appointed Life-Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America
2012 · Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Government of Canada
2010 · IMA Medal, International Mineralogical Association
· Bancroft Award, Royal Society of Canada
2009 · Carnegie Medal, Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Hillman Foundation
2008 · Killam Prize in Natural Sciences, Canada Council
· Member, NSERC Discovery Grant Selection Committee, Solid Earth Sciences
2007 · Elected Geochemistry Fellow by Geochemical Society & European Assoc. for Geochemistry
2007 · Listed by Thomson Scientific as the most highly cited Geoscientist in the world for 1996–2007
2007 · Canada Research Chair renewed for 7 years (2008–15)
2006 · Elected Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2005 · Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada
2002 · Listed by Sciencewatch as the most highly cited Mineralogist/Crystallographer for 1990–2000
2002 · Listed by Sciencewatch as the third most highly cited Solid-Earth Scientist for 1990–2000
2002 · Profiled on the Thomson-ISI website ISIHighlycited.com
2001 · Awarded Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Crystallography and Mineralogy
2000 · Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, Mineralogical Society of America
1999 · Peacock Medal, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1998 · Hawley Medal, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1997 · Appointed Distinguished Professor, University of Manitoba
1997 · Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award for Excellence in Research
1996 · Logan Medal, Geological Association of Canada
1995 · Schlumberger Medal, Mineralogical Society of Great Britain
1995 · Elected Distinguished Fellow, Geological Association of Canada
1994 · Hawley Medal, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1993 · Willet G. Miller Medal, Royal Society of Canada
1992 · Past-Presidents’ Medallist Lecturer, Geological Association of Canada
1992 · Gold Medal, University of Pavia, Italy
1992 · NATO Fellowship, Italy
1991 · Brock Award, Canadian Museum of Nature (best research paper co-authored with CMN scientist)
1991 · Killam Fellowship, Canada Council ($120,000 for two calendar years, 1992 and 1993)
1991 · Hutchinson Medal, Geological Association of Canada
1991 · Chair, NSERC Operating Grant Selection Committee, Solid Earth Sciences
1991 · Distinguished Lecturer, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1990 · Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
1990 · NATO Fellowship, Summer 1990
1990 · Member, NSERC Operating Grant Selection Committee, Solid Earth Sciences
1990 · Distinguished Lecturer, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1989 · Member, NSERC Operating Grant Selection Committee, Solid Earth Sciences
1988 · Consiglio Nazionale Recerche Senior Fellowship, Pavia, Italy
1988 · Sigma Xi Senior Scientist Award
1987 · NATO Fellowship, Italy
1985 · Elected Fellow, Geological Association of Canada
1984 · Rh Institute Award for Science
1984 · Hawley Medal, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1984 · Appointed Life-Fellow, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1980 – 1990 · University Research Fellowship
1978 · Elected Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America
In 2012, I was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee medal. In English, all adjectives that precede the last noun modify that noun….thus the medal should be silver (Ag). Disbelieving this, I examined the medal in an analytical SEM; the result in shown below. The medal is not silver, it is an alloy of several elements, the most abundant of which is copper…..thus the Queen’s Silver-Jubilee medal.
Lydden Lake, Saskatchewan, February 2016, collecting water samples from below the ice and from the ice-free water. The temperature is -29 C., and the lake is not completely frozen due to the extremely high amounts of dissolved sulphate (and other) minerals in the water.
