Dear GSW Community, We write to share a remembrance of Dick Fiske, former GSW President, who contributed extensively to the society through his participation and service. Dick passed away last month. Dick Fiske (September 5, 1932 – June 18, 2025) With sadness, we commemorate Richard “Dick” Fiske, former Director of Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and curator in the Department of Mineral Sciences, who died on June 18th in Seattle, Washington. Dick relentlessly shared his passion for science and community. He will be missed. Dick earned his Bachelors and Masters of Geological Engineering degrees in 1954 and 1955, respectively, from Princeton University. After work experience with Socony-Vacuum Oil Company of Venezuela and Union Oil Company of California, Dick obtained his PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1960. Dick then became one of the first American postdocs at the University of Tokyo where he was mentored by the great Professor Hisashi Kuno. In Japan, Dick made friends and professional connections that he maintained throughout his career. In 1976, after spending 10 years as a Geologist with the USGS, Dick joined NMNH’s Department of Mineral Sciences. In 1980, Secretary S. Dillon Ripley appointed Dick to a five-year detail as Director of NMNH where he oversaw the rebuild of the paleobiology exhibit halls and the move of 20 million objects from the Natural History Building to the new “Silver Hill Support Center” (i.e. MSC). During this time, Dick’s wife, Pat Fiske, served as Director of the Textile Museum, making them a prominent couple on the Washington professional and social scene — but only as ambassadors for the Smithsonian, Dick remarked. Dick was a physical volcanologist best known for his work on eruptions of Kīlauea Volcano and submarine eruptions in Izu-Bonin. For the latter, he adventured on 13 cruises and took many dives in the submersible Shinkai 2000 (distinguished as the tallest and oldest submarine diver), becoming an expert on pyroclastic systems and publishing several high-impact discoveries (twice in the journal Science). Dick was honored as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was bestowed the Geological Society of Japan's International Prize in 2017. Dick was an ambassador for science. He launched the traveling exhibit “Inside Active Volcanoes” and served as a core team member for the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. Rapt audience members enjoyed his large model of a volcano, made of clear Jell-O, demonstrating the relationship between gravitational stress and lava flows. He would entrain anyone in arm’s reach or earshot to attend meetings of the Geological Society of Washington, where he won Best Paper 3 times, first in 1962 for “Submarine eruptions of ash-flow type in the Tokiwa Formation (Miocene), South Fossa Magna, Japan,” and most recently in 2001 with “Kulanaokuaiki 3 tephra: Kilauea Volcano's nasty little secret.” He also won the Great Dane Award for informal communications (four times) and the Sleeping Bear Award (for making people laugh). In addition to serving as President (1987), Dick chaired five committees over his decades of service to the society. Dick was honored by the Mineralogical Society of America in 2000 with its Distinguished Public Service Medal. While accepting this honor, he commanded his peers to, “Get involved! Get innovative! Do something!” Dick retired in 2006 and remained an active emeritus curator at NMNH, publishing about the “remarkably energetic pyroclastic eruption at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, USA” in 2019 for Geological Society of America Bulletin. Dick is survived by Pat, his son Peter, and four grandchildren (Petra, Gabriel, Elizabeth, and Alexandra). Dick was predeceased by his daughter Anne in 2024. Dick’s family has created a memorial page here: https://everloved.com/life-of/richard-fiske/. With fond memories, Liz Cottrell, Chair, on behalf of your colleagues in the Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian The Department of Mineral Sciences will host an event to honor Dick, likely this fall.