Stoiberite

Our man at Mount St. Helens, Professor Richard Stoiber '32, has had the singular honor unrelated to his most recent investigations of having a mineral named after him.

Described as a "copper vanadate," stoiberite is a newly identified black mineral he discovered in 1964 on a hot fumarole on the volcano Izalco in El Salvador. The specimens he brought home languished in the Earth Sciences Department collection until 1977, when.Professor Richard Birnie '66 and John Hughes, now a doctoral candidate, started studying their crystal chemistry and physical properties. The results were subsequently distributed to members of the international commission on nomenclature, which approved the designation last year.

As the ALUMNI MAGAZINE reported in last month's issue, Stoiber's career as a volcanologist has been long and distinguished, and he continues still to teach at the College, despite emeritus status at- tained in 1976, and to prowl the world seeking clues from volcanic behavior toward the prediction of potentially disastrous eruptions. The comparative precision of his forecasts, combined with his frequent presence on the scene of volcanic activity, has earned him the title among some groups of Central Americans of "the little white-haired man who sets off volcanoes."

We haven't heard the like since a species of green algae was named CosmariumCroasdaleae after Hannah Croasdale, professor emerita of botany.