Emeritus Professor John S. Webb (Earth Science and Engineering 1941, PhD 1947)

Provided by Richard Howarth

John Stuart Webb, Emeritus Professor of Applied Geochemistry, Imperial College London, dubbed 'Father of English Geochemical Mapping' on his award of the William Smith Medal by the Geological Society of London in 1981, died on 2 April 2007, aged 86.

He initiated the programme of research in applied geochemistry at Imperial College in 1949 and became founder and Director of the Geochemical Prospecting Research Centre in 1954. Initial work related to mineral prospecting in Africa, Asia and the British Isles, but in 1963-64 the scope expanded to include multi-element regional reconnaissance, marine mineral exploration and the application of geochemical surveys to animal epidemiology. Consequently, the Centre's name was changed in 1965 to the Applied Geochemistry Research Group (AGRG) to reflect the increasing breadth of its applications. By Webb's retirement in 1979, studies related to human health and pollution had been added, and over 80 PhD students had been trained. Many went on to leading positions in the mining industry, to teach applied geochemistry in academia, or to national geological surveys world-wide. It has recently been stated that "the influence of John Webb, and his students and staff, upon the development of applied geochemistry and its spread around the world has been remarkable. The success of the AGRG should be judged not only on the quality of the research which resulted in its recognition as the premier applied geochemical research centre in the world, but also on the success of the human output".

Webb's publications include the classic text Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration (1962) written with the American geochemist, Herbert E. Hawkes (1912-1996), with a second edition co-authored with another American geochemist, Arthur W. Rose, and Hawkes (1979) and, jointly with members of AGRG, the Provisional Geochemical Atlas of Northern Ireland (1973) and The Wolfson Geochemical Atlas of England and Wales (1978) which remained unequalled for some twenty years. These atlases pioneered the now widely-used concept of national multi-element, multi-purpose geochemical atlases based on active drainage sediments, as first envisaged by Webb in the early 1960s. Webb's farsighted vision of geochemical atlases as a strategic national requirement was realised in 1988 when UNESCO's International Geochemical Mapping Project was inaugurated.

He was awarded the DSc (University of London), 1967; the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa Gold Medal, 1953, and the Geological Society's William Smith Medal, 1981; the Webb Laboratory, which housed AGRG's inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer on the fourth floor of RSM, was named in his honour in 1984 [GEOlogIC no. 223, 16 March 1984].  He was elected Honorary Member, Association of Exploration Geochemists, 1977; Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering, 1979; and Honorary Fellow, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 1980. Nevertheless, although acclaimed abroad, recognition by many of his peers in Britain of the importance, and pioneering nature, of the work undertaken under his guidance by the GPRC and AGRG over the years was lacking. His ex-colleagues and students feel it is shameful that he was never elected to the Royal Society.

Donations honouring John Webb can be made to: The Distinguished Applied Geochemists Fund (J. Webb), Association of Applied Geochemists, c/o Betty Arseneault, AAG Business Office, P.O. Box 26099, 72 Robertson Road, Nepean, ON, Canada K2H 9R0. Tel: (613) 828 0199; Fax: (613) 828 9288). Donations can be made by: (1) wire transfer to: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bells Corners Branch Transit No. 00586, Account no. 02-05117 Robertson Road, Bells Corners, Nepean, Ontario K2H 5Z1 (Tel:  (613) 820 0300; Fax: (613) 820 3203); (2) A cheque made payable to: The Association of Applied Geochemists; or (3) by credit card: Please contact Betty Arseneault (office@appliedgeochemists.org) to make arrangements.