Professor Walter Frederick Hunt

Professor Walter Frederick Hunt

Chair of the Mineralogy Department of the University of Michigan 1933 - 1952.

Editor of the American Mineralogist, Journal of the Mineralogical Society of America from 1922 through the 1950's.

Born to German immigrant parents in Cincinatti, Ohio on September 6, 1882 . Hunt graduated from Cincinatti public schools before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he lived most of his adult life.

From the 1900 federal census, Walter F. Hunt lived in Glendale Village, Hamilton County, Ohio, with his father, mother, and brother. The family at the time consisted of:

• Head Henry W Hunt 52
• Wife Ida C P Hunt 56
• Son William H Hunt 26
• Son Walter F Hunt 18

In 1904 he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry at the University of Michigan. Then he immediately entered upon graduate work and became interested in mineralogy. He soon was appointed to the Mineralogy Department staff and rose through the ranks to become Professor of Petrology in 1922. He became Chairman of the Department and Director of the of the University's Mineralogical Laboratory in 1933. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon him in 1915. In 1951 he went on retirement furlough and became Professor Emeritus in September 1952. Professor Lewis S. Ramsdell has succeeded him as Chairman of the Mineralogy Department. Professor Ramsdell co-authored later editions of Mineralogy: An Introduction to the Study of Minerals and Crystals.

As a teacher, Professor Hunt was extremely painstaking and meticulous. He was an excellent lecturer and never met a class without careful preparation. He always personally supervised his laboratory courses and in all his teaching he demanded good performance by his students. By his colleagues and by those who came under his instruction he is held in very high esteem for his comprehensive knowledge.

Dr. Hunt early demonstrated a flair for research as is evidenced by a very creditable list of published papers dealing with phases of crystallography and mineralogy. For many years he prepared hundreds of abstracts of mineralogical, chemical, and geological papers which were published in Chemical Abstracts in this country and in journals abroad. He also collaborated in publishing two texts, -- Tables for the Determination of Minerals (with E.H. Kraus) and Mineralogy, An Intruduction to the Study of Minerals and Crystals (with E.H. Kraus and L.S. Ramsdell). Both became key textbooks for mineralogists of that generation.

Huntite, Mg2Ca(CO3)4, a mineral newly discovered in 1953, was named in honor of Walter Hunt. The mineral is described in the American Mineralogist, January/February 1953 issue which was dedicated to Professor Hunt.

Walter married Stella Taft Edwards, a bright, social, and artistic lady who loved drama, music, antiques, and parties. Together they had two children Frederick and Marjorie. Both were born in their beautiful arts and crafts home where they grew up in Ann Arbor. Professor Hunt was more inclined to academic study and not the arts, like his wife and children.

After Stella's death from breast cancer, Professor Hunt remarried Janice Wright.

Professor Hunt lived nearly all his adult life at 1030 Baldwin, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Also his last address when he passed away in December 1975. His widow Janice sold the house eventually to move into a smaller place.