Benjamin F. Leonard III *51

Benjamin F. Leonard, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1943 to 1993, died peacefully Sept. 5, 2008, at home. He was 87.

Leonard graduated from Hamilton College in 1942, and received a Ph.D. in geology from Princeton in 1951. Though primarily a field geologist, he established an ore microscopy laboratory at the Denver Federal Center in 1962, which he ran even after his retirement until 2001. He taught ore microscopy at the center to his associates, and from 1992 to 2001 to graduate students of the Colorado School of Mines as an adjunct professor.

Over the years, Leonard published about 100 papers on regional geology, ore deposits, and mineralogy. The ore mineral benleonardite, a silver-antimony-tellurim sulfide, was named for him by colleagues at the National History Museum in London. After retirement, he was a USGS geologist emeritus and received the Department of the Interior’s meritorious service award.

A loyal Princetonian, Leonard contributed to the Princeton’s Graduate School AG campaign for exactly 50 years, the first graduate alumnus to do so.

He is survived by Eleanor, his wife of 58 years; two children; and three grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.