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Presentation of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2017 to Thomas W. Sisson

I have the pleasure of introducing Thomas W. Sisson, the Mineralogical Society of America Dana Medalist for 2017. Tom is known for his scientific rigor and landmark publications that have contributed to a diverse spectrum of fields closely tied to the mineralogical sciences. He is particularly recognized for his work on magma differentiation and the role of water in subduction-related magmatism. Beginning with his Ph.D. research with Tim Grove, Tom's early papers showcase difficult high-temperature experiments on hydrous basalt and magmatic processes recorded by the Sierra Nevada batholith. This landmark work was soon followed by ion microprobe measurements of dissolved water concentrations in melt inclusions from a range of arc basalts and by infrared spectrometric determinations of dissolved H2O and CO2 concentrations in unusually primitive arc basalt.