Robert Hallowell Richards (August 26, 1844 – March 27, 1945) was an American mining engineer, metallurgist, and educator, born at Gardiner,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. In 1868, with the first class to leave the institution, he graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, and there he taught for 46 years, becoming 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 ...

and

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity ...

ing in 1871, head of the department of mining engineering in 1873, and in 1884 professor also of metallurgy. The laboratories which he established at the Institute were the first of their kind in the world. He retired in 1914. Richards invented a jet aspirator for chemical and physical laboratories and a prism for stadia surveying. But it was in the field of ore dressing that he became especially distinguished. He determined the curves of material settling in water, thereby establishing the fundamental principles of sorting ore by means of jigs and other machines. He invented separators for Lake Superior copper,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

iron, and three for ores of the Western United States. Richards served as president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1886. He was author of more than 100 monographs and articles, but his most notable work is a monumental treatise, ''Ore Dressing'' (four volumes, 1903–09). He published also a ''Text Book of Ore Dressing'' (1909). Ellen Swallow Richards 1904

Richards married Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman graduate of MIT, on June 4, 1875. They remained married until her death in 1911. Richards married Lillian Jameson Richards (b.1866) on June 8, 1912, remaining married until her death on March 31, 1924.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Robert Hallowell People from Gardiner, Maine American mining engineers Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty 1844 births 1945 deaths American men centenarians