Tribute to Brian Mason on the Te Ara blog
BRIAN MASON (1917-2009)
It is with great sadness that we record the death of Dr Brian Mason in Washington, DC (USA) on 3 December 2009. Brian has had close links with the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Canterbury (UC) for many years. He did an undergraduate science degree at UC from 1934-1937, then completed a double masters degree with 1st class honours in both Chemistry and Geology, graduating in 1939. He began his PhD at the University of Oslo with the great geochemist Professor V.M.Goldschmidt, but the German invasion of Norway forced him to move to Sweden, and he finished his degree at the University of Stockholm. He returned to New Zealand in 1944 and became a lecturer in the then Department of Geology at UC, before being headhunted as Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Indiana (USA) in 1947. In 1952 he was appointed as Curator of Meteorites at the Museum of Natural History, Washington and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. In 1965 he moved to the Smithsonian Institute taking up the position of Curator in the Mineralogy Section, a position he held until his retirement in 1984, after which he became Curator Emeritus for another 17 years.
During his time in the USA, Brian never forgot his old alma mater. Over the year he donated some magnificent minerals to the Department, which now form the Brian Mason Mineral Collection. In 1990, he donated a substantial sum to the Department to provide logistic funds primarily for postgraduate student. This was placed in the Mason Trust Fund, and with additional donations from Brian and interest, this fund has now grown to over NZ$1 million, and provides a wonderful legacy for current and future students in the Department.
Brian was not only an outstanding scientist, but a wonderful mentor and very generous individual. He will be sadly missed by us all. We extend our sympathy to Alan (his brother), and other members of his family.
Photos on this page |
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At Washbourn Hutt, in the upper Rakaia Valley, with Austin Deans (left). May 1937. (Photo: S. Nathan) | 
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Brian with his brother Alan on the coast north of Waipara River. Jan 1947. (Photo: S. Nathan) |
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Shearers quarters at Island Hills Station. (Photo: Anekant) | 
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Island Hills field area with syncline. (Photo: Anekant) |
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Brian Mason with the Devil Peak Meteorite (Photo A. Mason) | 
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Canyon Diablo meteorite which formed Arizona Crater, on display in Canterbury Museum. |
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Brian Mason and friends in the Australian Outback. (Photo A. Mason) | 
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A slice from the 4.5-billion-year-old Allende meteorite. |
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Brian Mason at Rahu Saddle (Photo: A. Mason) | 
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Maxwell Gage and Brian Mason at the opening of the new Field Centre in Westport (1995). (Photo: S. Nathan) |
Student at UC
Brian Mason did an undergraduate science degree at Canterbury University College from 1934-1937, then completed a double masters degree with 1st class honours in both Chemistry and Geology, graduating in 1939. Geology was a small field of expertise in 1934 when Mason began his studies at Canterbury University College. He developed an early taste for the subject during summer holidays on an uncle's farm in the Puhi Puhi valley at the foot of the seaward Kaikouras - "with a great hogsback of Oligocene limestone on one side and the mountains on the other". From the outset he determined to pursue both chemistry and geology.
Continuing to master's level with just two fellow classmates, his thesis work involved an examination of the largely unmapped south side of Mt Grey in Canterbury, for which he caught the train to Ashley for 2/6d, then rode 10 miles to the Grey River by bicycle.
Memories of these financial exertions - compared with the relative ease of 
the chemistry students who were not required to purchase their own chemicals or glassware - were among the inspirations for his later establishment of the trust.
At this time there was no PhD degree in New Zealand, so Brian obtained a Government Scholarship to go to the University of Oslo to do a PhD with the great geochemist Professor V.M. Goldschmidt. Abruptly interrupted by the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, he found himself evacuating to Sweden and completing his PhD instead at the University of Stockholm in 1943.
Teaching at UC
Returning to New Zealand in 1944, Mason accepted a lectureship in geology at his alma mater, where he seized the opportunity to introduce lectures in the little known subject of geochemistry. He and Robin Allen, the then lecturer in charge of geology, split the teaching between them. Brian teaching mineralogy, petrology and chemistry and Allen general geology, palaeontology and stratigraphy.
Organizing field trips was difficult because the University had no vehicles. Students used public transport or hitched a ride with someone who had a vehicle. Brian took his petrology class on a trip to north Westland. They were able to rent a vacant hotel in Kumara for 30 shillings for the week ($3), but had to stock the bar themselves.
Brian had visited Island Hills in 1937 and was impressed by the magnificent exposure of a syenite pluton and a beautiful syncline of Tertiary rocks, both bisected by the Mandamus river. In 1944 the Island Hills area immediately came to mind as it was easily accessible by public transport. In October the same year he went to Island Hills and established a cordial relationship with Arthur Shand, the owner of the station, by spending a day assisting in a muster. Brian noticed that the station had excellent shearers'
quarters (large kitchen, living room and bunk rooms) and arranged to take advanced students there for field work in August 1945.
Brian established an ongoing relationship with Arthur Shand, and Island Hills and the shearers quarters have since been an unofficial field station for the Geology Department for over fifty years. It is remembered with affection, as for many students it is the first serious geology field trip.
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Encounter with Meteorites
In 1947 Brian Mason was headhunted for the position of Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Indiana, where he wrote Principles of Geochemistry (1952) - believed to be the first textbook on the subject in English, and reprinted in four editions.
In November 1952 Brian was invited to lecture at Columbia University. On arrival he learned that he was being considered for the position of Curator of Mineralogy at the Museum of Natural History, with an adjunct professorship at Columbia University. In 1953 Brian moved to New York and his first task was to re-catalogue the Museum's meteorite collection which then comprised some 3500 specimens from
548 meteorite finds.
He soon realised from the nature of research requests that many meteorites had been poorly characterised in terms of mineralogy and composition. Seeking funding from the National Academy of Sciences, he collaborated for a decade with Birger Wiik, a chemist at the Geological Survey of Finland, to analyse and classify 50 previously undescribed or poorly characterised meteorites. During Brian's lifetime, meteorites have gone from being curios stashed away be museum curators, to being objects of unique significance for decifering the origin of age, and the evolution of the solar system. His textbook, Meteorites (1962), also became a standard work for many years.
More Meteorites and Lunar Rocks
During the 1960s, an upsurge in space research and the imminent Apollo programme stimulated increasing requests for meteorites. With Ed Henderson of the Smithsonian Institute, Mason initiated a search for new meteorites in the Australian Outback, where the arid desert conditions were favourable to their survival and recovery. In four expeditions between 1963 and1967, the pair covered 40036 miles and made a significant number of finds. Then in 1965, Mason joined the Smithsonian, as the meteorite division expanded in anticipation of the need for significant scientific backup to support the lunar programme.
In February 1969, an exploding fireball scattered tons of the Allende meteorite over the Mexican countryside. In July, the Apollo 11 astronauts made the first Moon landing, returning with 22kg of lunar material and in December of that year, Japanese glaciologists picked up nine meteorites on 
the icecap near the Yamoto Mountains of Antarctica.
The Allende meteorite was full of surprise containing minerals previously unrecorded in meteorites - grossular, andradite, sodalite, gehlenite and a unique Al/Ti-rich pyroxene. In one piece cordierite was identified, previously unknown in meteorites. Despite an intensive search, neither Brian nor any other mineralogist have managed to find another specimen containing cordierite. Much of Brian's subsequent meteorite research was on Ca/Al-rich inclusions. "We have learned more about the origin and evolution of the solar system from the Allende meteorite than from the lunar rocks - and it came to us for free."
Benefactor
When Brian Mason started working on the West Coast in the 1980's, the Geology Department became a very useful base providing facilities and research support. That reminded him that when he was a graduate student he had to pay all the costs of his thesis by himself.
In 1990 Brian donated $100,000 for the establishment of the Mason Trust Fund, the objective of which was to provide research funds for both students and staff of the Department of Geological Sciences. With his additional donations and interest, this fund has now grown to over $1 million, and provides research funding for many of our post-graduate students. A most generous gift, which is not only recognised and appreciated by generations of UC geology graduates, but which will continue to provide financial support for young earth scientists in the future.
"Everything I have done in my life stems from my years spent in Canterbury and Westland, including an excellent public education. This has been my opportunity to put something back."
In 1995 the University of Canterbury opened a new geological field centre in Westport. The facility was named after two of Canterbury's most eminent geologists - Maxwell Gage and Brian Mason. The Maxwell Gage Field Centre is designed primarily for undergraduate student groups, while the Brian Mason Research Facility is a unit for individuals and small groups engaged in research. A most appropriate way to commemorate the unique contribution that Brian Mason has made to earth science both locally and internationally.
Mineral Collection
When Mason joined the Smithsonian in 1965 he took up the position of Curator in the Mineralogy Section of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Institution mineral and gem collection consists of approximately 350,000 mineral specimens and 10,000 gems, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Mason retired from the Smithsonian in 1984, but continued as curator emeritus for a further 17 years. By 2001 he had examined over 7,000 meteorites - there is probably no one else who has seen so many.
Two minerals have been named after Brian Mason. Brianite is a phosphate mineral, first described from the Dayton meteorite.
Stenhuggarite (from the Swedish 'stenhuggar' - 'mason') is a rare iron-antimony mineral found in iron ore. In 1999 Joel and Christine Schiff of Auckland discovered a new asteroid between Mars and Jupiter which they named 12926Brianmason.
Throughout his career Brian was an enthusiastic collector of minerals. For some Senior Staff members in our Department, Brian's Christmas presents were always something worth waiting for. Each year, a box would arrive containing samples of minerals he had collected, many from exotic locations, others selected simply for their intrinsic beauty.
The departmental Brian Mason Mineral Collection contains now several 100 rare minerals and we are in the process of creating a database of images to be displayed on the internet.
Source: Brian Mason & Simon Nathan (2001), From mountains to meteorites, Geological Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 109, 72p.