Peter Molnar (geophysicist)

Peter Molnar
Born(1943-08-25)August 25, 1943
DiedJune 23, 2022(2022-06-23) (aged 78)
OccupationGeophysicist

Peter Molnar (August 25, 1943 – June 23, 2022)[1] was a professor in Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado. His research focused on aspects of how mountain ranges form[2] and continental lithosphere deforms.[3]

Molnar was born August 25, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[4] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Oberlin College in 1965 and his Ph.D. in seismology from Columbia University in 1970.[4]

He was a winner of the Crafoord Prize[5][6] and a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He won the Crafoord Prize in 2014 for discovering "the driving forces behind plate motions and the place of continents in the plate tectonic model of Earth's evolution. Innovatively combining geological and geophysical methods of inquiry with satellite measurements and modelling, the Laureate has also paved the way to a new understanding of the formation of mountain ranges and their role in global tectonics."

  1. ^ Obituary - Peter Hale Molnar
  2. ^ "Peter Molnar". Geology Bites. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  3. ^ "Down to Earth With: Geophysicist Peter Molnar". www.earthmagazine.org. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  4. ^ a b Gates, Alexander E. (2003). A to Z of Earth Scientists. Facts on File. pp. 173–175. ISBN 0816045801. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  5. ^ CU-Boulder geophysicist Peter Molnar recognized by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  6. ^ "The Crafoord Prize in Geosciences 2014". crafoordprize.se. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. January 16, 2014.