Abstract

Penrose was a mining geologist and investor who had accumulated great wealth through shrewd investments in mining stocks. He was born into a financially well-off family and attended Harvard, graduating at age 23 with a Ph.D. He gained much practical experience in field and mining geology during the next several years, and he served on the University of Chicago faculty under Chamberlin. In 1903, he co-founded the Utah Copper Company (now part of Kennecott) to develop the rich Bingham Canyon copper deposits in Utah. This was the primary basis of his fortune. After his father's death in 1908, Penrose devoted himself almost entirely to investments and charities. He was well respected among geologists and was elected President of GSA in 1930.

The Penrose legacy has benefitted GSA greatly. Membership has grown to more than 10,000 fellows, members, and students. One of Penrose's wishes was for GSA to have its own home. This goal was finally fulfilled in 1972, when GSA dedicated its own, permanent headquarters building at 3300 Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado. GSA is today one of the largest, non-governmental geology publishing organizations in the world.

At the time of GSA's founding, there were only about 200 geologists in government surveys and at universities in all of North America. Economic geology was in its infancy--petroleum geology was virtually unknown. The approximately 100 original members represented about half of all professional geologists. James Hall was elected first president in 1889. The organization experienced steady, but unremarkable growth to around 600 members by 1930. The primary functions were holding of annual meetings for scientific presentations and publishing a quarterly Bulletin.

During the first half of his professional career, Penrose was a field and mining geologist. He worked in Texas, Arkansas, Arizona and Colorado; he pursued mapping assignments with the U.S. Geological Survey and did private consulting. Most of his work focused on economic geology of phosphate, copper, silver, gold, and other ore deposits. During the 1890s, Richard joined his brother Spencer in the gold rush at Cripple Creek, Colorado. Working for the U.S. Geological Survey, Cross and Penrose (1895) reported on geology and mining conditions in the Cripple Creek vicinity. They made a rock collection that still exists in the Cripple Creek museum.

In 1930, the GSA headquarters was two rooms furnished by Columbia University, New York City. Penrose had wanted GSA to have its own, permanent headquarters. This goal was not achieved until more than 40 years later. Meanwhile, GSA moved into a house on the Columbia campus in 1931. Later it was forced to move in 1963, and a building was purchased on east 46th Street. Four years later GSA moved again, and the building on 46th Street was sold to the Venezuelan U.N. Embassy. At this time, GSA moved west to Colorado, where a rental office was occupied in Boulder. Construction of a permanent GSA home was completed in 1972, at 3300 Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado.

The author stands in front of the GSA headquarters building in Boulder, Colorado. Click on the small image to see a larger version. Photo date 1/89, © J.S. Aber.

Until 1948, GSA had only one category of membership, by election to fellowship. GSA had become increasingly elite. It did not participate in the petroleum geology boom. By the 1940s, the average age of fellows was 55, and the average age for new fellows was 40. In 1948, a "member" catagory was created for any professional geologist who volunteered to join, and a "student" category began in 1971. Membership grew dramatically and now is balanced between governmental, academic, and industrial sectors.

Meetings of the GSA have grown from six presentations in 1889 to several 1000 oral and poster presentations at the annual and regional meetings each year now. Meetings include general sessions, special symposia, poster presentations, theme sessions, business meetings, and field trips. Regional sections were established, beginning with the Cordilleran in 1901. Each section holds a regional spring meeting, and the annual international meeting takes place in the fall. GSA also hosts several subject-area divisions for basic and applied specialties.