George R. Rossman

Rossman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1966 and a PhD in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology in 1971.

Immediately upon graduating with his PhD in 1971, he became an instructor in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech and was soon thereafter appointed Assistant Professor of Mineralogy and Chemistry. He is now Professor of Mineralogy at Caltech.

Rossman studies mineral spectroscopy, water and hydroxide in nominally anhydrous solids, analytical methods for OH analysis in minerals, x-ray amorphous minerals, and the effects of exposure on minerals to background levels of natural radiation. Paul Asimow, describing Rossman's work, wrote, "Within the general rubric of mineral spectroscopy, Rossman’s work can be grouped into three principal categories: the origin of color, the effects of natural and artificial radiation damage, and the concentration and crystal chemistry of hydrogen in minerals both hydrous and nominally anhydrous." He has received numerous awards for his work including Caltech's most prestigious teaching honor, the Feynman Prize.

• A mineral species in the tourmaline family, rossmanite, is named after him
• 2014, awarded The Lifetime Excellence Award, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
• 2005, awarded The Friedrich-Becke Medal of the Austrian Mineralogical Society
• 2004, awarded The Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching, California Institute of Technology
• 2001, awarded the inaugural Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
• 1980, elected a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America

• "George R. Rossman's CV". November 2013.
• "Caltech mineralogy professor George Rossman wins Feynman Prize for teaching excellence (press release)". California Institute of Technology. 03/12/04. Archived from the original on 2010-05-31. Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "George R. Rossman homepage".
• Paul Asimow (2002). "Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Dana Medal for 2001 to George R. Rossman" (pdf). American Mineralogist. 87: 799–800.
• "the tourmaline rossmanite".