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on March 11, 2012 at 11:47:50 am
 

W. Dan Hausel, Polymath of Martial Arts, Geology, Writing, Sketching, Prospecting, Music, Astronomy

 

Professor Hausel's Recent books include: (1) GOLD - Field Guide for Prospectors and Geologists: CreateSpace (2011), 365 p.  co-authored with Eric J. Hausel (rated 5 stars), and (2) Gems, Minerals and Rocks of Wyoming: CreateSpace, (2009), 175 p (rated 4 stars).

 

 

When Professor Hausel grew up, he was bored, so bored he lived in a daydream world to escape (which constantly got him into trouble) the real world. This did not sit well in public schools. In  college, he dreamed of searching for gold, diamonds & other gemstones. He dreamed of being a professor of budo (martial arts). He dreamed of being a public speaker, dreamed of stars, astrophysics & other worlds, dreamed of playing in a rock n' roll band and dreamed he would someday write a book.

 

His interest in life didn't begin until after 1964 when a group of 4 teens grew their hair - and wanted to be like the Beatles. They built a popular Rock n' Roll band. But hair was anti-establishment & people took exception even though they had become one of the more popular bands in Utah. Professor Hausel often said he couldn't quite grasp how people could judge others based on hair, but they did. To be sure their judgement was peaceful, the band signed up for self-defense lessons at the local dojo (karate school) at the Black Eagle Federation Dojo in Surgarhouse, a suburb of Salt Lake City and began training in Kyokushin Kai Karate!

 

College provided the freedom to be an individual. In high school, one had to be gregarious & this was not in his genetic code. He was a dreamer ostrasized by teachers & colleagues. He went on to College at the University of Utah and graduate school at the University of Utah and later at the University of New Mexico.

 

He became an astronomer. The Hansen Planetarium employed him to talk about stars. where he led tours for people & aliens (yes, they had visitors from other planets, although they looked human to most people) through geology & astronomy exhibits. A promotion to astronomy lecturer led to weekly discussions on stars & the origin of the universe in the planetarium dome. Astronomy evolved into geology & he studied igneous rocks from Apollo projects in graduate school. Dan was so impressed by his son, Eric, who also went on to college. Eric graduated with degrees in geology, astrophysics and physics!

 

Dan specialized in diamond exploration at the Wyoming Geological Survey. His first project was to map all diamondiferous kimberlites in the State Line district so Wyoming could assess this resource.

 

He became a consultant and searched for diamonds, gold in the West & in the Kuskokwim of Alaska. He found two world-class colored gemstone deposits, a new gold district, a palladium-nickel occurrence, opal, peridot, ruby, sapphire, iolite & more. He built a diamond exploration company from scratch for an Australian company & found hundreds of probable diamond deposits & two very nice kimberlites with diamond resources. Not bad for a recluse who was once told by his high school advisor that he would never make anything of himself.

 

His maps are a work of beauty. Over the years, he mapped >1000 km2 of geology (much had never been visited by a geologist before) from a tent and worked in historic mining districts, the two largest kimberlite districts in the US and the largest lamproite field in North America (kimberlites & lamproites are host rocks for diamonds). He found diamonds, colored gemstones, base and precious metal deposits, giant opals & two of the largest iolite (water sapphire) gemstone deposits on earth. He found the two largest iolite gems in the world & left others at the outcrop too heavy to carry (>a million carats). He found a third deposit - potentially the largest in the world (estimated resource >2.4 trillion carats), but retired from the WGS in and moved to Gilbert Arizona in 2006.

 

He enjoys writing. So he wrote or co-authored >650 papers and geological maps and contributed to 30 books. He lectured to hundreds of groups around North America abd was awarded the AAPG's President's Award & the WGA's Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Endeavors & Contributions. He was a Distinguished Speaker for the Laramie Lyceum & Distinguished Lecturer for the University of Wyoming Dept of Geology & Geophysics & was presented the Prospector's Best Friend Award by the Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters. In 2001, he was presented the Education Award & elected to the National Rock Hound and Lapidary Hall of Fame. He was elected to the Colorado Chapter of the International Order of Ragged Ass Miners & the recipient of the WGA's Distinguished Service Award for Contributions to the Understanding of the Geology of Wyoming. His achievements were highlighted in several Who’s Who compendiums including Who's Who in Science & Engineering, Who's Who in the West, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, 2,000 Notable American Men, 5,000 Personalities of the World, Men of Science & 2,000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century. He was inducted into the ABI's Milleniuum Hall of Fame, receipient of the Man of Science Award & Archimedes’s Award for Contributions to the Geological Sciences & nominated for one of the Top 100 Scientists of 2008. The ABI elected him as 1996 Man of the Year, the IBC elected him as 1997 International Man of the Year.

 

And then there was martial art. He had a dream - to become a sensei (teacher).  He became a kyoju a professor of martial arts at four major universities. He became a shihan (master of martial arts). In 1999, he became a Soke (grandmaster) and was later promoted to Judan (10th degree black belt) in 2004. He spent time in 15 halls of fame scattered worldwide. What a wonderful life to see one's dreams come to reality. His son (Eric) and daughter (Jessica) followed him in martial arts, both being recognized as Soke-Dai of Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai. No dad could be prouder of his children for their accomplishments.


      

 

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