Washington, DC. The Geochemical Society and the European Association for Geochemistry has announced that Bjørn Mysen, senior scientist at Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory is one of seven scientists named a Geochemical Fellow for 2008. The honorary title is “bestowed upon outstanding scientists who have, over some years, made a major contribution to the field of geochemistry.”
Bjørn Mysen's research has focused on a broad array of experimental high-temperature and pressure studies of rock-forming processes. He looks at properties and processes of minerals and melts to understand the physicochemical principles that govern mass and energy transfer in the interior of the Earth.
Carnegie president Richard Meserve remarked that “Mysen has significantly advanced our knowledge of silicate melts and glasses and we can use that information to understand rock-forming processes on and within the Earth. This fundamental work has also impacted the glass and ceramic science.”
Director of the laboratory, Russell Hemley said, “This honor is well deserved and follows a rich tradition of excellence in this field since the founding of the Geophysical Laboratory.”
Bjørn Mysen received his bachelors of science from the University of Oslo, Norway, in 1969 and his masters there in 1971. He then went to Pennsylvania State University where he received his Ph.D. in 1974. After three years as a Carnegie Corporation Fellow at the Geophysical Laboratory, he joined the senior staff in 1977. Mysen is a member of The Royal Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and a Thomson Research/ISI Highly Cited Researcher since 2001. He received the F. W. Clarke Award from the Geochemical Society of America, the Reusch Medal from the Norwegian Geological Society, and the Morey Award from American Ceramic Society, an award named for George Morey, an early Geophysical Laboratory staff member who made fundamental discoveries in glass science and thermodynamics. Mysen is a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society. He is currently an associate editor of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and American Mineralogist. He has edited five books, written two books, and about 270 peer-reviewed papers.
To date there are 164 Geochemical Fellows, nine such Fellows are, or have been, at the Geophysical Laboratory. See the following links for more information http://www.gl.ciw.edu/people/bmysen http://www.geochemsoc.org/awards/geochemicalfellows.htm and http://www.gl.ciw.edu/
The Carnegie Institution (www.CIW.edu) has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research since 1902. It is a private, nonprofit organization with six research departments throughout the U.S. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.