Alfred Church Lane (January 29, 1863 – April 15, 1948) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Alfred C. Lane was educated at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and received his A.B. degree in 1883. Between 1883 and 1885 he taught mathematics at Harvard, then studied at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

until 1887 before returning to Harvard to earn his Ph.D. in 1888. The following year he joined the Michigan State Geologic Survey as a petrographer, and he remained in that post into 1892 while also serving as an instructor at the Michigan College of Mines. He became assistant state geologist for

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in 1892, and from 1899 to 1909 he was the state geologist. Finally, he joined

Tufts College Tufts University is a Private university, private research university in Medford, Massachusetts, Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts, Grafton, as well as Talloire ...

in 1892, becoming the Pearson professor of geology and mineralogy. He retired from the college in 1936 as professor emeritus. While at Tufts, he served as vice president of the AAAS Division of Geology in 1907. He received an honorary D.Sc. from Tufts in 1913. From 1922 and 1946 he was chairman for the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time for the National Research Council. He served as a member of the Board of Visitors at

Harvard Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...

in 1924. Alfred Lane was appointed as consultant of science to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in 1929; the first person to hold that post. In 1931, he was president of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

. He was awarded the Ballou Medal by Tufts College in 1940 for "distinguished service to education and the nation". During his career, he authored 1,087 publications.

References

1863 births 1948 deaths American geologists Harvard University alumni Tufts University faculty Scientists from Boston Educators from Boston Heidelberg University alumni Harvard College Observatory people Presidents of the Geological Society of America {{US-geologist-stub