American physical geologist and planetary scientist
Susan Elizabeth Werner Kieffer (born November 17, 1942, in Warren, Pennsylvania) is an American physical geologist and planetary scientist. Kieffer is known for her work on the fluid dynamics of volcanoes, geysers, and rivers, and for her model of the thermodynamic properties of complex minerals. She has also contributed to the scientific understanding of meteorite impacts.
Biography.
Kieffer received her B.S. in physics/mathematics from Allegheny College in 1964 and is an alumna of the California Institute of Technology receiving both an M.S. (1967) in geological sciences and Ph.D. (1971) in planetary sciences. She received an Honorary Doctor of Science from Allegheny in 1987, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award, equivalent to an honorary Ph.D. from other institutions, from Caltech in 1982.
She is currently an Emeritus Professor of Geology in the Department of Geology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began her teaching career as a Professor of Geology at the University of California, Los Angeles (1973) before working with the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona (1979–1990). After serving as a Regents Professor of Geology at Arizona State University (1991-1993) she went on to chair the Geological Sciences Department at the University of British Columbia (1993–1995).
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences. From 1995 to 2000 she held a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2014 She was awarded the Penrose Medal by the Geological Society of America. The American Geosciences Institute recognized Kieffer with the 2017 Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal.
In 2013, Kieffer published a trade science book entitled "The Dynamics of Disaster". The book discusses natural disasters from an underlying geological perspective.
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