Georges Calas is professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

(Emeritus) at Sorbonne Université and an honorary Senior Member of University Institute of France.

Education

Calas was educated at the

École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

(now

École normale supérieure de Lyon École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

) where he graduated in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and at

Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

where he received his doctorate.

Career

Prior to his appointment at

, Calas has been researcher at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

, then full professor (1981–2001) at

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...

where he chaired the Department of Earth Sciences. He was elected Senior member of the University Institute of France (IUF) in 2007 and renewed in 2012. He has been Allan Cox visiting professor at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

visiting scientist at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. He made major scientific contributions over the past 4.5 decades in geochemistry, mineralogy, and materials sciences, with a focus on molecular-scale approaches, the structure/property relationships in minerals and glasses including industrial materials, the environmental geochemistry and mineralogy of heavy metal contaminants, the nuclear waste glasses and the radiation damage in glasses and minerals. More recently, his research has extended to mineral resources and their sustainable development and to cultural heritage materials such as medieval stained glasses. He has been a pioneer in the use of solid-state spectroscopy in these scientific areas, particularly using synchrotron radiation. From 2005 to 2008, he was Associate member of the Stanford Environmental Molecular Science Institute at

. He held th
chair on Sustainable Development– Environment, energy and society
at

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

in 2014–2015. The topic of this Chair was: " Mineral Resources – A Major Challenge in the Context of Sustainable Development". Calas served on the board of directors of the

Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières BRGM is France's public reference institution in Earth science, Earth Science applications for the management of surface and Geology, subsurface resources and risks. It also deals with geological surveys of French territory. BRGM was founded in ...

and chaired various national and regional scientific networks and audit committees. He has been chair of the Commission on Physics of Minerals at the

International Mineralogical Association Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. ...

. A former Principal Editor of the journals '' Elements'' and '' Terra Nova'', he serves on the editorial board of '' Physics and Chemistry of Minerals'', ''

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta for, la, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Geochemical and Cosmochemical Journal is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It was established in 1950 and is sponsored by the Geochemical Society and the Meteoritical Soc ...

'' and '' the Journal of the American Ceramic Society''.

Publications
International Mineralogical Association Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. ...

* Calas has published 350 articles and book chapters, gathering more than 18,000 citations, according to Google Scholar.

Honors

Calas has received the best paper Award of the

Mineralogical Society of America The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) is a scientific membership organization. MSA was founded in 1919 for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, ...

in 1999, the Ivan Peyches Award (Materials Sciences) of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 2002, the Léon Bertrand Medal (Applied Geology) of the

Société Géologique de France The Société géologique de France (SGF) is a French learned society founded on 17 March 1830. As of 2006, it counts 1,200 members. History At its creation, its statutes indicate is to "compete for the advancement of Earth Sciences and Planets, ...

in 2006, the Schlumberger Award of the

Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (now known as the Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland) was founded in 1876. Its main purpose is to disseminate scientific knowledge of the Mineral Sciences (mineralogy) as ...

in 2011, the Dolomieu Medal (Earth Sciences) of the

in 2011, the Merit Award of th
Société française de minéralogie et de cristallographie
in 2020 and the IMA Medal for Excellence in Mineralogical Research of the

in 2020. He is a fellow of the

the Geochemical Society The Geochemical Society is a nonprofit scientific organization founded to encourage the application of chemistry to solve problems involving geology and cosmology. The society promotes understanding of geochemistry through the annual Goldschmidt Co ...

and

European Association of Geochemistry The European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) is a pan-European organization founded to promotes geochemical research. The EAG organizes conferences, meetings and educational courses for geochemists in Europe, including the Goldschmidt Conference w ...

, the

Society of Glass Technology The Society of Glass Technology (SGT) is an organisation for individuals and organisations with a professional interest in glass manufacture and usage. The Society is based in the United Kingdom, with its offices in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Eng ...

and the

American Ceramic Society The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a nonprofit organization of professionals for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications in which ceramic materials are an element. ACerS is located ...

. He is an Honorary Fellow of the

. He was President of the Société française de minéralogie et de cristallographie in 1992 and was elected to

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

in 2011 and to the Royal Society of Canada in 2014. In 2023, Calas was awarded the

Roebling Medal The Roebling Medal is the highest award of the Mineralogical Society of America for scientific eminence as represented primarily by scientific publication of outstanding original research in mineralogy. The award is named for Colonel Washington A. ...

, the highest honor at the

References

External links

Collège de France website
English home page * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calas, Georges Members of Academia Europaea Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni

Education

Career

PublicationsInternational Mineralogical Association Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. ...

Honors

References

External links