Waldemar Lindgren
February 14, 1860 - November 3, 1939
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Scientific Discipline: Geology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1909)
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Waldemar Lindgren was considered the foremost authority of his time on economic geology in the United States. His book, Mineral Deposits, published in 1913, was used in nearly every mining camp and classroom for its extensive information on the formation, origin, and zoning of minerals. His greatest contribution was his classification of minerals based on their physical properties and the pressures and temperatures that control the formation of deposits.
Lindgren attended the Freiberg Mining Academy in Germany, where he graduated as a mining engineer in 1882. After immigrating to America he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1884 to 1915, where he conducted the majority of his research. In 1905 he helped to found the journal Economic Geology. He was appointed head of the Department of Geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1912. The Society of Economic Geologists elected him president in 1922. In 1924 he was elected president of the Geological Society of America. Lindgren also served as chairman of the Geology and Geography Department of the National Research Council.
