Charles A. Anderson
June 6, 1902 - January 9, 1990
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Scientific Discipline: Geology Membership Type:
Emeritus
(elected 1957)
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Geologist Charles Anderson devoted much of his career to the U.S. Geological Survey, where he served as chief geologist from 1959 to 1964, after serving as head of the Mineral Deposits Branch of the Service. As a research geologist, he explained anomalies in copper deposits, observed pre-Cambrian volcanic rocks in Arizona, and worked to explain the origins of the Gulf of California. The mineral Andersonite, which is a uranyl carbonate, was discovered in Arizona and named after him.
Anderson received his bachelor’s degree from Pomona in 1924 and went on to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his PhD in 1928. After his graduate work he joined the faculty at Berkeley. In 1942 he joined the U.S. Geological Survey, where he oversaw several research ventures in the western United States. He served as vice president and president of the Society of Economic Geologists and was a member of the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers.
