Dr James Neilson, a consulting geological engineer and former professor of geological sciences at Queen’s University, has died in Kingston, Ont., at the age of 75.
A prolific author on geological subjects, Dr Neilson was also a contributor to this newspaper’s “Odds ‘n’ Sods” column.
At the time of his death, he was president of James Neilson and Associates in Kingston, specializing in mineral exploration, development and geological engineering.
A graduate of the Royal Military College, Kingston, (he served in World War II as a major in the Royal Canadian Engineers), Dr Neilson also held a B.Sc. in civil engineering from Queen’s, an M.Sc. in geological sciences from McGill University, and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Minnesota.
After the war he lived in Michigan for many years where he taught geology, returning to Kingston and to Queen’s in 1966. He left Queen’s in 1978 to form his own company.
Among many honors and achievements during his career, Dr Neilson particularly valued his appointment as a Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York.
He was a member of numerous other societies and associations, including the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Geological Society of America, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the Society of Economic Geologists.
As an author, he had just completed a book on prehistoric copper mining, and was concluding another on the current situation in Afghanistan.
Dr Neilson is survived by his wife, Gwynneth, and sons Jamie, an airline pilot, Ian, a chief surgical resident at a Montreal hospital, and Douglas, a mining technologist.
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