Robert M. Hazen

Robert M. Hazen, Staff Scientist at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of Carnegie Science in Washington, DC, and Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, Emeritus, at George Mason University, received degrees in geology from MIT and Harvard. Author of more than 550 articles and books on science, history, and music, Hazen has been recipient of numerous awards, including the 2025 AGI Legendary Geoscientist Medal, the 2021 IMA Medal, the 2016 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America, and the 2012 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award. His book The Story of Earth (Viking-Penguin) was finalist in the Royal Society and Phi Beta Kappa science book competitions. The biomineral “hazenite,” as well as a fossil dolphin and a fossil hermit crab, were named in honor of Robert and Margaret Hazen. Since 2008, Hazen and his colleagues have explored “mineral evolution” and “mineral informatics”—new approaches that exploit large and growing mineral data resources to understand the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. In October 2016 Hazen retired from a 40-year career as a professional trumpeter, during which he performed with numerous ensembles including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Ballet, Boston Opera, and National Symphony Orchestra.