Leon Theodore "Lee" Silver (born 1925). Professor of Geology at California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

 (Caltech), was an instructor to the Apollo 13

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...

, 15

Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...

, 16

Apollo 16

Young and Duke served as the backup crew for Apollo 13; Mattingly was slated to be the Apollo 13 command module pilot until being pulled from the mission due to his exposure to rubella through Duke.-Backup crew:...

, and 17

Apollo 17

Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the...

 astronaut crews. Working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, he taught astronauts how to perform field geology, essentially creating lunar geology as a new discipline, His training is credited with a significant improvement in the J-Mission Apollo flights' scientific returns. After the Apollo program, he became a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

 in 1974. Currently, he is the W. M. Keck Foundation

W. M. Keck Foundation

The W. M. Keck Foundation is an American charitable foundation supporting scientific, engineering, and medical research in the United States. It was founded in 1954 by William Myron Keck, founder and president of Superior Oil Company . The Foundation's trust fund currently has assets in excess of 1...

 Professor for Resource Geology, emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

, at Caltech.

Early life and education

Leon Silver was born in Monticello, New York

Monticello, New York

Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...

 in 1925 as the youngest of five children. His parents were Russian and Polish immigrants who moved the family to Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...

 soon after he was born. He graduated from Crosby High School

Crosby High School (Waterbury, Connecticut)

Crosby High School is a public high school located in Waterbury, Connecticut. It is part of the Waterbury Public Schools district. It has an enrollment of approximately 1368 students. Originally located at 255 East Main Street in Waterbury, it moved to 300 Pierpont Road in September,...

 in 1942.

He earned his BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado

University of Colorado

The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

, Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

, in 1945; an MS in Geology at the University of New Mexico

University of New Mexico

The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...

, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 in 1948; and a Ph.D. in Geology and Geochemistry at California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

, Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, in 1955.

Early career

Silver served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 from 1943 to 1946, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Civil Engineer Corps

Civil Engineer Corps

The Civil Engineer Corps is a staff corps of the United States Navy. CEC officers are professional engineers and architects, acquisitions specialists and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers. They are responsible for executing and managing the planning, design, acquisition, construction, operation, and...

. He worked for the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 (USGS), Mineral Deposits Branch, in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 from 1947 to 1954 (field seasons only), where he attained the status of Assistant Geologist.

Academic career

After completing his Ph.D., Silver was appointed Assistant Professor of Geology (1955–1962) at Caltech; he was later promoted to Associate Professor (1962–1965), Professor (1965–1983), and W. M. Keck Foundation

W. M. Keck Foundation

The W. M. Keck Foundation is an American charitable foundation supporting scientific, engineering, and medical research in the United States. It was founded in 1954 by William Myron Keck, founder and president of Superior Oil Company . The Foundation's trust fund currently has assets in excess of 1...

 Professor for Resource Geology (1983–1996), where he is now a professor emeritus since his retirement.

His main research interests are petrology

Petrology

Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....

, tectonics

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...

, and applications of geology and isotope geochemistry

Isotope geochemistry

Isotope geochemistry is an aspect of geology based upon study of the relative and absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes in the Earth. Variations in the abundance of these isotopes, typically measured with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer or an accelerator mass spectrometer,...

 to geochronology

Geochronology

Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...

, crustal evolution, ore deposits, and comparative planetology. While pursuing these research interests, Silver also played a major role in the Apollo Program's lunar geological exploration as well as on numerous national scientific advisory boards and committees.

NASA and Apollo Program involvement

NASA's Johnson Space Center

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight training, research and flight control. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres in Houston, Texas, USA...

 Oral History Project lists Silver's involvement as follows:

• Geologist, Astrogeology Branch
  Astrogeology Research Program
  The USGS Astrogeology Science Center has a rich history of participation in space exploration efforts and planetary mapping, starting in 1963 when the Flagstaff Science Center was established by Gene Shoemaker to provide lunar geologic mapping and assist in training astronauts destined for the...
  
   of the USGS, (1970–1976, part-time), contracted to work with NASA
• Geology Lecturer to NASA Scientist-Astronaut Classes, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas (Part Time 1968-1993)
• Lunar Surface Geology Experiment Team (Apollo 13-17)
• Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team (Apollo 15-17)
• Lunar Surface Traverse Planning Team (Apollo 15-17)
• Lunar Science Working Panel (Apollo 15-17)
• Lunar Sample Analysis Planning Team, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas (1972–1974)
• Space Program Advisory Council Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Scientist-Astronauts (1974–1975)

In popular culture

Silver's work with the Apollo Program has been recounted, perhaps most notably, in Andrew Chaikin

Andrew Chaikin

Andrew Chaikin is an American author, speaker and space journalist. He currently lives in Vermont.He is the author of A Man on the Moon, a detailed description of the Apollo missions to the moon...

's A Man on the Moon (1994). The book became a TV mini-series in 1998, with David Clennon

David Clennon

David Clennon is an American actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Miles Drentel in the ABC series Thirtysomething, a role he reprised on Once and Again....

 portraying him in the HBO docu-drama series From The Earth To The Moon. In the series' Episode 10 "Galileo Was Right", Silver is shown teaching the Apollo 15 astronauts field geology, and participating from Houston's Mission Control in their lunar extra-vehicular activities (Moonwalks). Silver was interviewed about the episode and he felt that it "romanticized" the experience, and had minor historical inaccuracies, but otherwise liked it and showed it at a lecture in 1999.

In 2002, Apollo 15 Commander David Scott

David Scott

David Randolph Scott is an American engineer, test pilot, retired U.S. Air Force officer, and former NASA astronaut and engineer, who was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963...

 devoted a section of his co-authored book Two Sides of the Moon to the training and instruction that Scott and other Apollo astronauts received from Silver.

Personal

Leon Silver is a board member of the Caswell Silver Foundation at the University of New Mexico. The Foundation was created in 1980 through an endowment by Caswell Silver, an alumnus of the Department of Geology, independent oilman, and Leon Silver's brother. The Foundation supports education and research at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico.

Select publications

• Allen, Clarence R., Leon T. Silver, and Francis Greenough Stehli. Agua Blanca Fault: A Major Transverse Structure Of Northern Baja California, Mexico. New York: The Society, 1960.
• Cooper, John Roberts, and Leon T. Silver. Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Dragoon Quadrangle, Cochise County, Arizona.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.
• Silver, Leon T., and Peter H. Schultz, eds. Geological Implications Of Impacts Of Large Asteroids and Comets On The Earth: Conference On Large Body Impacts And Terrestrial Evolution: Geological, Climatological, And Biological Implications. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America, 1982.
• Silver, L. T., I.S. Williams and J.A. Woodhead, eds. Uranium In Granites From the Southwestern United States: Actinide Parent-Daughter Systems, Sites and Mobilization: Second Year Report. Grand Junction, CO: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Resource Applications, Grand Junction Office (1984).
• Silver, L. T., and B. W. Chappell. “The Peninsular Ranges Batholith: An Insight into the Evolution of the Cordilleran Batholiths of Southwestern North America.” Transnational Royal Society of Edinburgh 79 (1988): 105-121.
• Silver, L. T. “Daughter-parent Isotope Systematics in U-Th-bearing Ingeous Accessory Mineral Assemblages as Potential Indices of Metamorphic History: A Discussion of the Concept.” The Geochemical Society, Special Publication 3 (1991): 391-407.
• Woodhead, J. A., G. R. Rossman, and L. T. Silver. “The Metamictization of Zircon: Radiation Dose-Dependent Structural Characteristics.” Mineralogical Society of America 76 (1991): 74-82.
• Li, Y.-G., T. L. Henyey, and L. T. Silver. “Aspects of the Crustal Structure of the Western Mojave Desert, California, From Seismic Reflection and Gravity Data.” Journal of Geologic Research 97, B6 (1992): 8805-8816.
• Pratson, E. L., R. N. Anderson, R. E. Dove, M. Lyle, L. T. Silver, E. W. James and B. W. Chappell. “Geochemical Logging in the Cajon Pass Drillhole and its Application to a New Oxide, Igneous Rock Classification Scheme.” Journal of Geologic Research97 B4 (1992): 5167-5180.
• Manduca, C. A., L. T. Silver, and H. P. Taylor. “87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O Isotopic Systematics and Geochemistry of Granitoid Plutons Across a Steeply Dipping Boundary Between Contrasting Lithologic Blocks in Western Idaho.” Contributions in Mineralogical Petrology 109 (1992): 355-372.
• Kanamori, H. (Hiroo), Robert W. Clayton, and Leon T. Silver. Earthquake and Seismicity Research Using SCARLET And CEDAR: Final Technical Report, 1 December 1990 - 30 November 1992. Pasadena, CA: Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 1993.
• Manduca, C. A., M. A. Kunz, and L. T. Silver, "Emplacement and deformation history of the western margin of the Idaho batholith, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 105 (1993), 749-765.
• Silver, L. T. “Observations on the Extended Tectonic History of the Southern Sierra Nevada.” Geological Society of America Joint Cordilleran and Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Reno, Nevada. Geological Society of America (1993).

Professional service

• International Union of Geological Sciences Committee on Establishment of a Worldwide Geologic Time Scale (1968–1976)
• Universities Space Research Association Advisory Committee for the Lunar Science Institute (1972–1973; 1979–1981)
• Chairman, Uranium Resources Panel, National Research Council Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems (1975–1978)
• Board on Mineral and Energy Resources of the National Research Council Commission on Natural Resources (1975–1978)
• National Air and Space Museum, Visiting Committee, Smithsonian Institution (1975–1980)
• U. S. Delegation, International Geological Congress, Sydney, Australia (1976)
• Vice-Chairman, Board on Mineral and Energy Resources of the National Research Council Commission on Natural Resources (1976–1977)
• Chairman, Working Group for Southwestern U. S. and Mexico, Subcommission on the Precambrian, Commission on Stratiography, International Union of Geological Sciences (1976–1978)
• Chairman, Workshop on Concepts of Uranium Resources and Productibility, National Research Council Board on Mineral and Energy Resources (1978)
• Panel on Continental Tectonics, National Research Council, Geophysics Research Board (1979–1980)
• Committee on Science and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences (1979–1980)
• Executive Committee, Geological Society of America (1980)
• U. S. Delegation, International Geological Congress, Paris, France (1980)
• First Chair, Steering Committee, The Decade of North American Geology (1980–1981)
• Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy – National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine (1980–1987)
• Board of Directors, Caswell Silver Foundation for the University of New Mexico (1981- )
• Science Advisory Committee to the President, Auxiliary Resources Control Office (1981–1986)
• Founding Chairman, Division of Planetary Geology, Geological Society of America (1982)
• Chairman, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy – National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine (1984–1985)
• Science Advisory Council, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Department of Energy (1986- )
• Advisory Panel, Science and Technology Centers Selection, National Science Foundation (1987–1988)
• Panel on Science and Technology Centers, National Academy of Sciences (1987)
• Science Advisory Committee, Auxiliary Resources Control Office Research Library, Plano, Texas (1987–1989)
• Member, Board of Directors for Drilling, Observation and Sampling of the Earth’s Continental Crust, Inc., (1987–1990)
• Vice Chair, Science Advisory Council, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Department of Energy (1988–1990)
• Vice President, 28th International Geological Congress, Washington, DC (1989)
• Member, Advisory Committee, Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory (1989- )
• Councilor, National Academy of Sciences (1989–1992)
• Governing Board, National Research Council (1989–1992)
• President, Caswell Silver Foundation for the University of New Mexico (1989- )
• Chair, National Research Council, Committee on International Organizations and Programs (1990–1992)
• Steering Committee, Senior Synthesis Group, America’s Space Exploration Initiative (1990–1991)
• National Research Council Committee on Natural Hazard Reduction (1990–1992)
• National Research Council Committee for the Pacific Science Association (1990–1992)
• International Council of Scientific Unions Special Scientific Committee for the Decade of Natural Hazard Reduction (1990–1992)
• National Science Foundation Advisory Council for Continental Scientific Drilling (1990–1993)
• Chair, Science Advisory Council, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Department of Energy (1991–1993)
• Advisory Panel to Federal Interagency Coordinating Group for Continental Scientific Drilling (1991–1993)
• Visiting Committee, French Bureau of Research in Geology and Mines (1993)
• Presidential Advisory Committee on the Redesign of the Space Station (1993–1994)
• Commission on Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Applications, National Research Council, National Research Council Committee for the Pacific Science Association (1993–1996)
• Liaison to Space Science Board and Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, National Research Council Committee for the Pacific Science Association ( 1994–1996)
• Chair, Cordilleran Section Second Century Fund, Geological Society of America Foundation (1996- )
• National Research Council Committee on Building an Environmental Management Science Program (1996- )

Honors and awards

• In 1971 Silver was awarded a NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal both for his training of Apollo astronauts in geologic science and equally for his research:

  For his significant scientific achievements in the development of highly precise isotopic compositions of uranium and lead in minerals and the applications of the age determination procedures in the analyses of lunar material. While diligently conducting these laboratory investigations of lunar material, he provided a major contribution by training the astronauts in geological sciences which, through his enthusiasm, leadership and guidance, has led to the successful exploration of the moon.

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1964)
• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1971)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, Lunar Traverse Planning Team (1971)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, Crew Training and Simulation Team (1971)
• American Institute of Professional Geologists Award for Professional Excellence (1972)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, Lunar Landing Team (1973)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, Earth Resources Experiment Team (1974)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (1974)
• Member, National Academy of Sciences (elected 1974)
• President, Geological Society of America
  Geological Society of America
  The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
  
  (1979).
• Centennial Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of New Mexico (1989)