Gerald M. Friedman
Gerald Manfred Friedman (born July 23, 1921 in Berlin ; † November 29, 2011 in New York City ) was a German-American geologist specializing in sedimentology and petroleum geology .
Life
Friedman grew up in Berlin, but fled as a Jew from the National Socialists to England in 1938 , where he attended the University of London and graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and geology in 1945. In 1945 he went to the USA and worked for three years as a chemist at J. Lyons and for the pharmaceutical company Squibb . From 1949 he studied geology at Columbia University with a master's degree and doctorate in 1952. He taught at the University of Cincinnati (most recently as assistant professor ), but went to Ontario in 1954 to prospect uranium . His consortium also struck gold, but, as he himself wrote, was cheated out of the millions of proceeds by a resourceful lawyer. From 1956 he was a petroleum geologist for Amoco , where he worked in the Appalachian Mountains and the Canadian Shield, and most recently was head of research in sedimentology in Tulsa, Oklahoma . From 1964 he was a professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , where he retired in 1984. He was then a professor at the City University of New York (Brooklyn College and Graduate Center) from 1984 , where he became Distinguished Professor in 1988. In 2004 he retired there.
Friedman was one of the leading sedimentologists in the United States. His 1978 textbook on sedimentology was a standard work. In addition to petroleum geology, he also dealt with evaporites , environmental geology especially of rivers and the history of geology (especially sedimentology).
He also continued to work as an oil geologist, including in Libya, Kuwait, Algeria and Israel (including the Sinai Peninsula during the occupation from 1967 to 1973 as a visiting scientist of the Geological Survey of Israel). He undertook topical geological studies on reefs in the Middle East (Eilat) and the Bahamas and dealt with tectonics (including the formation of earthquakes during subduction). He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .
He was the founder and director of the Northeastern Science Foundation in Troy, New York , which organized geological symposia and published journals (Northeastern Geology, Carbonates and Evaporites, Environmental Science). Friedman was editor of the Journal of Sedimentary Petrology from 1964 to 1970.
In 1997 he won the William H. Twenhofel Medal and in 1993 the John T. Galey Memorial Award and in 2000 the Sidney Powers Memorial Award of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He was an honorary doctor of the University of Heidelberg. 1974/75 he was president of the Society of Sedimentary Geology and 1982 to 1986 of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
He had been married to Sue Theilheimer (Sue Tyler Friedman), a Jewish nurse who had also fled Germany and later studied geology, since 1948, and had five daughters. The Geological Society of London's Sue Tyler Friedman Medal for the History of Geology is named after her.
Fonts
- with John E. Sanders: Principles of Sedimentology, Wiley 1978
Web links
- Obituary (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Date of birth according to Pamela Kalte u. a. American Men and Women of Science, Thomson Gale 2004
- ^ Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 1990
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Friedman, Gerald M. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Friedman, Gerald Manfred (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American geologist specializing in sedimentology and petroleum geology |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 23, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 29, 2011 |
| Place of death | New York City |