The Department of Mineral Sciences was created in 1963 as part of a reorganization in the Museum of Natural History. At that time, the Department of Geology was divided into two new departments--Mineral Sciences and Paleobiology. The former Division of Mineralogy and Petrology, Department of Geology, became the new Department of Mineral Sciences. Divisions of Mineralogy and Meteorites were created within the new Department. In 1964, a Division of Petrology was established. Its name was changed to the Division of Petrology and Volcanology in 1973. The same year, a Physical Sciences Laboratory was established, and in 1989 the Global Volcanology Program was created within the Department.
Chairmen of the Department of Mineral Sciences have included George Switzer, 1963-1968; Brian Harold Mason, 1968-1973; William G. Melson, 1973-1978; Daniel E. Appleman, 1978-1982; Robert F. Fudali, 1983-1988; Daniel E. Appleman, 1989; Jeffrey Edward Post, 1990-1995; and Glenn J. MacPherson, 1995- .
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Agency History. Record 218058
