President Hitzman and friends of SEG: I am delighted and proud to have been selected to be awarded the SEG Silver Medal, particularly in the organization's centenary year. I am also surprised to get it, given the immense pool of talented and dedicated scientists from whom a recipient can be chosen. I have the distinct feeling that many of you out there deserve the award more than I do. However, here I am and I must say that there is a great deal of personal satisfaction in this recognition of the fact that I have made what other people than myself have judged to be a useful contribution, particularly in diamond exploration. My introduction to geochemistry came with an appointment as a chemical analyst to the late Professor Louis Ahrens in Cape Town. He had taught me as an undergraduate, but it is unlikely it was my academic prowess that attracted his attention. He was President of both the University of Cape Town Soccer and Cricket Clubs and at the time both sports received more attention from me than my studies. Nonetheless, he kindled my interest in earth science and opened the door of opportunity by recommending that the Smithsonian Institution offer me a postdoctoral bursary for a year in 1970-1971.
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