Arthur Edmund Seaman (December 29, 1858 – July 10, 1937) was a professor at the

Michigan College of Mines Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary instit ...

(now

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

) and curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum which bears his name.

Biography

Seaman was born in Casnovia, Michigan, near Grand Rapids. He moved to the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

in the 1880s and began working in the timber industry as a "land looker" estimating timber. Because of his abilities, he was hired by the

Michigan Geological Survey The Michigan Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the U.S. state of Michigan. The survey is headed by the State Geologist of Michigan. The survey has been composed of three individual surveys: the first from 1837 through 1845, the second fr ...

under Charles E. Wright and later Marshman E. Wadsworth, who was also president of the Michigan College of Mines. Seaman became an assistant at the college in 1890 and began earning his bachelor's degree. When the survey separated from the college in 1892, Seaman was kept on at the college, becoming an instructor in 1893. He earned his degree and became assistant professor in 1895, and finally full professor and head of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy in 1899. In 1907, Seaman, along with A. C. Lane, divided the various "Lake Superior Sandstones" into the Jacobsville, Freda, and Munising. In 1917, Seaman discovered the mineral seamanite which was named in his honor. In 1928, after retiring from active teaching, he was named the curator of the college mineral museum. In June 1932, the museum was renamed the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum. Seaman did not have many published works, but co-wrote a paper with Lane and also wrote poetry. Seaman was a Fellow 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 ...

and a member of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

. Seaman died at the age of on July 10, 1937, in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, and was buried in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

. After his death, a bronze plaque was placed on the museum door to commemorate him. Arthur Seaman had two children: daughter Lucile Lamey and son Wyllys A. Seaman, professor at the same university as his father and curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum from 1943 to 1948.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seaman, Arthur Edmund 1858 births 1937 deaths American curators Michigan Technological University faculty American mineralogists People from Kent County, Michigan Fellows of the Geological Society of America