Howland, A. L. (Arthur Lloyd), 1908-1978

Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 1940-1954; Professor of Geology, Northwestern University, 1933-1976; consultant to numerous mining companies.

Arthur Lloyd Howland, son of Arthur Charles Howland, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1908. Howland worked as a geology professor at Northwestern University as well as serving as a geologist for the United States Geological Survey and as a consultant for various mining companies. His primary research interests were in mineralogy, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and field geology. After a distinguished career of 43 years, Howland retired from Northwestern in 1976. He died in Evanston, on November 23, 1978.

Howland's early education was at the Friends Central School and the Pierce Business School in Philadelphia. In 1925 he began undergraduate work in geology at Cornell University. After receiving an A.B. from Cornell in 1929, Howland continued his geological studies at Northwestern University. In 1931, he received an M.A. from Northwestern, and later that year, began work on a PhD at Princeton which was awarded to him in 1933.

On June 3, 1933, Howland was hired as an Instructor in the Department of Geology (later Geological Sciences) at Northwestern. In August 1939, eight months after his marriage on December 15, 1938, to Jean Marian Smith, Howland became an Assistant Professor. In 1942, he was promoted to Associate Professor. In September, 1950, Howland was appointed Professor. Throughout his career, he taught courses in geology, mineralogy, petrography, and petrology on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Also, he served on various university committees, several of which were concerned with developing the geology department. He served as chairman of the Department of Geology from 1945 to 1969.

In addition to teaching, Howland worked part-time as a geologist for the United States Geological Survey from 1940 to 1954. From 1940 to 1944 while with the Strategic Mineral Deposits Branch, he and other geologists including J.W. Peoples, R.M. Garrels, and W.R. Jones, studied the Stillwater Complex in Montana and its chromite and copper-nickel sulfide deposits in particular. Howland and other civilian geologists in the Military Geology Unit assembled and condensed geological data on various battlefields. He also studied factors relating to the construction of air bases in the Pacific Islands and made surveys of U.S. mineral supplies. In 1945, Howland rejoined the Mineral Deposits Branch where he continued his studies of the Stillwater Complex on a part-time basis until 1954.

Frequently, Howland served as a consultant to various mining companies. Beginning in 1957, he was a regular consultant to the Bear Creek Mining Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Armour Research Foundation, and Harza Engineering Companies in Chicago. Other companies included U.S. Gypsum Company, I.I.T. Research Institute, Molten Metal Engineering Company, and Great Lakes Plating Division. For the Harza Engineering Company and other companies, Howland made petrographic analyses of rocks used in dam foundations for concrete aggregates. He also made maps and surveys in connection with mineral exploration.

Howland was also active in many professional organizations. Sigma Xi, an honorary organization which promotes scientific research, elected him as a member in 1933. In 1957, he became president of the Northwestern University chapter of Sigma Xi.

He was a fellow of the Geological Society of America, Mineralogical Society of America, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 1956 to 1978, he served on the Board of Scientific Governors of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. He became a member in 1946 and was President in 1947 of the National Association of Geology Teachers. Other professional organizations he belonged to included the Society of Economic Geologists, Illinois Academy of Sciences, and American Geophysical Union.

Howland's primary research interests were connected with his work as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and consultant for various mining companies. Most of his research was in the fields of mineralogy, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and field geology. Some of his work involved mapping and making estimates of potential ore deposits particularly chromite, copper-nickel sulfides, and platinum group metals. Special field research included his studies on Precambrian iron foundations in Newfoundland and Brazil in the summer of 1938. Other research projects led to his study of platinum-bearing sulfide deposits in Montana in 1936 and the structure of Calumet Stock in Colorado in 1937. His interest in copper-nickel deposits in Montana is reflected in his doctoral work at Princeton.

Howland published primarily in the areas of his main research interests in the Stillwater Complex and Society Islands. Topics included chromite deposits of the Stillwater Complex and geology of the Society Islands.

After a distinguished career of 43 years, Howland retired from Northwestern in 1976. He died in Evanston, on November 23, 1978.