R.A.F. Penrose, Jr.
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R. A. F. Penrose, Jr. (December 17, 1863 - July 31, 1931) was an American mining geologist and entrepreneur.
After graduating in 1886 with a Ph.D. from Harvard for work on phosphates, he performed Geological Surveys in Texas and Arkansas until 1892, and then traveled the country doing mining surveys, most notably his survey of Cripple Creek, Colorado. During that period he purchased some mines and made around a million dollars. After his father died in 1908, he turned his skills entirely to entrepreneurship and had $8 million by the end of his life in 1931. He established the Penrose Medal in 1927 and was President of the Geological Society of America in 1930. With no heirs, his will divided his estate equally among the Geological Society of America and the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, with nearly $4 million going to each.
References
- Helen R. Fairbanks and Charles P. Berkey, Life and Letters of R. A. F. Penrose, Jr. (http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=Byf7QQ5LmtpJS2LHlp1jPChCblL1jwZyxK1TfRJcl8L9NJsnTMWV!-1111770757?a=o&d=3575172)
- Penrose's relation to the GSA (http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/histgeol/penrose/penrose.htm)
- Cross and Penrose Rock Collection at Cripple Creek (http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/histgeol/penrose/collect.htm)
- Texas Geological Survey by R.A.F. Penrose (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/books/dumble/publications/05/05a003a.html)