Frank Hawthorne

Frank Christopher Hawthorne, OC FRSC (born January 8, 1946 in Bristol, England) is a Canadian mineralogist and crystallographer.

Hawthorne received a Bachelor of Science degree from Imperial College London in 1968 and an Associateship of the Royal School of Mines (ARSM). In 1973, he received a Ph.D. from McMaster University.

From 1973 to 1975, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Geological Science at the University of Manitoba. He was a research associate from 1975 to 1980 and University Research Fellow from 1980 to 1985.

In 1985, he was appointed an Associate Professor and in 1986 he was appointed a Professor of Crystallography and Mineralogy. He currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Crystallography and Mineralogy.

Hawthorne’s early work focused on structural and crystal-chemical problems of amphiboles. He had utilized several experimental techniques, including X-ray and neutron diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. He summarized his results in a 300-page paper on amphiboles, for which he was awarded the Hawley Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada in 1983.

Hawthorne then turned his attention to a series of complex crystal-chemistry problems involving rock-forming minerals, such as staurolite, vesuvianite, pyroxenes, beryl, and tourmaline. He utilized a multi-technique approach and applied novel analytical and spectroscopic methods to solve these mineralogical problems. These results have been used to provide indication of the conditions prevailing during the progressive crystallization of magmas.

Hawthorne’s work on the energetic content of the chemical bonds in mineral structures has advanced solid-state chemistry and crystallography.

• Frankhawthorneite is named after him
• He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• 1983, awarded the Hawley Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada
• 1991, awarded the W.W. Hutchison Medal of the Geological Association of Canada
• 1991, awarded a Killam Fellowship by the Canada Council
• 1993, awarded the Willet G. Miller Medal of the Royal Society of Canada
• 1996, awarded the Geological Association of Canada's highest honour, the Logan Medal
• 1999, awarded the Past Presidents’ Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada
• 2001, appointed Canada Research Chair in Crystallography and Mineralogy
• 2001, listed by Sciencewatch as the most highly cited Mineralogist/Crystallographer for 1990–2000
• 2006, made an Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2006, elected Foreign Fellow of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• 2007, listed by Thomson Scientific as the most highly cited Geoscientist in the world for the decade 1996-2007
• 2007, Elected Fellow of the Geochemical Society
• 2007, Elected Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry
• 2008, Awarded the Killam Prize in Natural Sciences, Killam Trust and The Canada Council
• 2009, Awarded the IMA Medal of the International Mineralogical Association
• 2009, Awarded the Carnegie Medal by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• 2010, Awarded the Bancroft Medal of the Royal Society of Canada
• 2013, Awarded the Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America

• Hawthorne, Frank C. (January 1981). "Crystal chemistry of the amphiboles". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. 9A: 1–102. 
• Hawthorne, Frank C. (May 1983). "The crystal chemistry of the amphiboles". The Canadian Mineralogist. 21 (2): 173–480. 
• Burns, Peter C.; Grice, Joel D.; Hawthorne, Frank C. (1995). "Borate minerals. I. Polyhedral clusters and fundamental building blocks" (PDF). The Canadian Mineralogist. 33: 1131–1151. 
• Burns, Peter C.; Ewing, Rodney C.; Hawthorne, Frank C. (1997). "The crystal chemistry of hexavalent uranium: polyhedron geometries, bond-valence parameters, and polymerization of polyhedra" (PDF). The Canadian Mineralogist. 35: 1551–1570. 
• Hawthorne, Frank C.; Oberti, Roberta (October 2007). "Classification of the Amphiboles". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. 67 (1): 55–88. doi:10.2138/rmg.2007.67.2.