Ian Campbell papers

Title: Ian Campbell papers

Dates: 1899-1978

Collection Number: MSS-085

Creator/Collector: Campbell, Ian, 1899-1978

Extent: 9 manuscript boxes (3.78 linear feet)

Repository: California Academy of Sciences

Abstract: The papers of Dr. Ian Campbell, a geologist and President of the California Academy of Sciences. Included are his correspondence, reports, publications, and memorials.

Language of Material: English

Access is unrestricted

[Identification of item]. Ian Campbell papers. Collection Number: MSS-085. California Academy of Sciences

Ian Campbell was born on October 17, 1899 in Bismarck, North Dakota. His family moved to Eugene, Oregon when he was 10 years old. Here he completed his early education and continued on to earn both an A.B. (1922) and an A.M. (1924) from the University of Oregon. Campbell stepped temporarily away from school to serve for two years in the Army during World War I and to take a cross-country motorcycle trip, for which the Harley-Davidson Company awarded him a bronze medal. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he spent one year at Northwestern University on a teaching fellowship after which Campbell served as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University (1924-25). He briefly taught at Louisiana State University, before returning to Harvard as an instructor in Mineralogy and Petrography and in 1931 he received a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the same institution. That year Dr. Campbell accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Geology at California Technical Institute. While there he was appointed a Research Associate of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, for which he led the Carnegie-Caltech Geological Expedition (1937) through the Grand Canyon and along the Colorado River. Dr. Campbell also worked part-time for the United States Geological Survey studying altered volcanic rock (Nevada), metamorphic rocks (Montana and Idaho), and magnesite deposits (Washington). In 1944, he went temporarily to Seattle, Washington with the United States Navy, Bureau of Ships, assisting with the development of sonar technology in anti-submarine warfare. He left Cal Tech in 1959 for an appointment to the California Division of Mines as its chief, and the State Geologist. While there he initiated the division’s geographical and geochemical programs and established a geographical hazards program. Dr. Campbell spent several months as Director of the State Department of Conservation (1966-67) but returned to the Division of Mines and Geology, which had added geology to its title at the behest of Dr. Campbell. He retired in 1969 at the age of 70. The change in occupation, from Cal Tech Professor to State Geologist, caused a move to San Francisco and marked the beginning of Dr. Campbell’s involvement with the California Academy of Science. He was made a research associate in 1969, and became a member of the board of trustees (1960-76), the Secretary (1970-71), and finally was President (1971-75). Dr. Campbell’s professional memberships included: the International Geological Congress, the Geological Association of America, the Society of Mining Engineers, and the Mineralogical Society of America. He passed away on February 11, 1978. The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, of which he was the first chairman, named a peak in the Sierra Nevada in honor of Dr. Campbell. Mount Ian Campbell is located in Fresno County at the east end of Kaiser Ridge.

The papers of Dr. Ian Campbell, a geologist and President of the California Academy of Sciences. Included are his correspondence, reports, publications, and memorials.