Murray W. Hitzman

Professor Murray W. Hitzman is a world-leading economic geologist with particular interest in basin-hosted metallic systems and iron oxide-copper-gold deposits and over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, academia, and government. In March 2018, he was appointed Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Professor at University College Dublin (UCD) and Director of the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG). He previously was Associate Director for Energy and Minerals at the US Geological Survey, where he served from 2016-2017, and prior to that, he was the Fogarty Professor in Economic Geology at the Colorado School of Mines from 1996 to 2016.

Dr Hitzman has a proven record as an ore-finder and mine developer. He began work in the mining industry in 1976, and from 1982-1993, he served throughout the world for Chevron Resources Company and initiated and managed base and precious metal exploration projects in Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Spain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Tanzania, Canada, and the United States. In Ireland he led the discovery of the Lisheen zinc-lead-silver deposit, which he then guided through exploration and pre-feasibility.

His key research achievements have centered on the development of new generic models for both established and poorly understood classes of metallic mineral deposits. In addition to his industrial and academic experience, Dr Hitzman has served as a government policy advisor, including: Geological Society of America Congressional Fellow on the staff of U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (1993-94); and American Association for the Advancement for Science/Sloan Foundation Executive Branch Fellow, serving as a senior policy analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (1994-96).

Dr. Hitzman has been recognized for his work by his receipt of virtually every major award and citation in the field, including the Haddon Forrester King Medal by the Australian Academy of Sciences in 2016,
the Des Pretorius Award by the Geological Society of South Africa in 2015, the Daniel C. Jackling Award from the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and the Society of Economic Geologists Silver
Medal. Dr. Hitzman received B.A. degrees in Earth Science and Anthropology from Dartmouth College in 1976, an M.S. in geology from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Geology from Stanford University in 1983.