Memorial to Harry M. Mikami1915-1992

D O U G LA S J. CALK INS National Refractories & Minerals Corp., Livermore, California 94550

Harry M. Mikami died of cancer on August 7, 1992. He is survived by three sisters: M ary Rouse of North Haven,Connecticut, Alice Snodgrass of Palmer, Alaska, and Flora Newcomb of South Delta, British Columbia. His wife Kay died o f leukemia September 20, 1992; they had been married 37 years.

Harry was born on December 28, 1915, in Seward,A laska . Fo llow ing graduation from A nchorage High School in 1933, he attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, receiving a bachelor of science degree in chemistry with a minor in metallurgy, in 1937. After working briefly in industry, Harry continued his education at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he received a m aster o f science degree in geology in 1942 and his Ph.D. in geology in 1945. His dissertation, entitled “Granite Intrusives and Metamorphic Gneisses of the East Haven-Guilford Area, Connecticut,” combining geology with chemistry and metallurgy, was to provide a firm foundation for his long and very productive career in the field of materials for containing molten metals and associated slags.

H arry’s professional career was primarily in private industry but included some government and academic experience. He began in 1937 as a metallurgist for U.S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Company in Fairbanks, Alaska, and continued as an engineer for American Creek Operating Company in American Creek, Alaska, from 1938 to 1939. From 1943 to 1945, Harry was a geologist with the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey. In 1945 he was also an instructor of mineralogy at Yale University, and began his long association with E. J. Lavino & Company in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Starting as a research scientist, Harry became research manager in 1960 and then director of research in 1965. During this period he was an instructor in ceramic petrography at the Pennsylvania State University Extension— Norristown, Pennsylvania (1948-1949) and a consultant to the metallurgy department at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania (1957-1958). When International Minerals and Chemical Corporation acquired Lavino in 1967, Harry was named director of research and development of its Lavino Division.

In 1974, following purchase of Lavino’s refractories business by the Refractories Division of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, he transferred to Pleasanton, California, becoming manager of basic refractories research at Kaiser’s Center for Technology. In 1980, Harry became program manager of refractories raw materials for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, a position he held until his retirement in October 1982. With little more than a pause, in 1983 he resumed his activities as a consultant in refractories and industrial minerals, serving an international list of clients. He remained active until shortly before his passing.

In addition to the Geological Society of America, Harry Mikami was a Fellow o f the Min- eralogical Society of America and the American Ceramic Society. He was a member of Sigma Xi, the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, and the Iron and Steel Society of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. Harry had been a member of the

195

196 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Testing and Materials, Society of Economic Geologists, American Chemical Society, Geochemical Society, British Iron and Steel Institute, British Society of Glass Technologists, British Ceramic Society, and Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Mikami was a well-known authority on chromite and contributed the chapters on chromite in the third, fourth, and fifth editions of Industrial Minerals and Rocks, (American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers) and the chromite sections in the Annual Ceramic Mineral Resources Review of the American Ceramic Society Bulletin from 1983 to 1988. In addition to writing numerous papers on basic refractories technology ranging from chrome-magnesia refractories in open-hearth furnaces to carbon-magnesia refractories in electric arc furnaces, Harry held four patents in the refractories field. In recognition of his many contributions to the field of refractories, in 1987 Harry was presented the Theodore J. Planje Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Field of Refractories by the St. Louis Section of the American Ceramic Society.

Harry Mikami certainly had an impact on his profession. He was not only a teacher, but also a mentor to many individuals with whom he came in contact during his career. All those who knew him—associates, colleagues, students, golfing partners, friends, and family—miss him.

SELECTED BIBLIO G RAPH Y OF H. M . M IK AM I1960 (with Heiligman, H. A.) Chromite: Chapter 11 in Industrial Minerals and Rocks, third edi

tion: New York, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, p. 243-258.

1961 Chemical and thermal-mechanical behavior of chrome-magnesia refractories in oxygen- lance open hearth furnace roofs: Toronto, Canada, American Ceramic Society 63rd Annual Meeting.

1963 (with Sidler, A. G.) Mechanisms of refractory wear in copper converters: Metallurgical Society Transactions, v. 227, p. 1229-1245.

------Direct bonded brick in electric furnace walls: Electric Furnace Proceedings of the Metallurgical Society, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, v. 21, p. 49-68.

1964 (with Scheerer, P. E. and Tauber, J. A.) Microstructure of chromite-periclase at 1650 °C to 2310 °C: American Ceramic Society Journal, v. 47, no. 6, p. 297-305.

1965 (with Brown, W. E. and Gilbert, S. V.) Direct bonded brick in open hearth roofs: American Ceramic Society Bulletin, v. 44, no. 5, p. 433-439.

1967 Phase equilibria of the periclase phase boundary in the system Mg0-Ca0-Al20 3-Si02 and applications to basic refractories: Los Angeles, California, 96th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers.

1975 Chromite: Chapter in Industrial Minerals and Rocks, fourth edition: New York, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., p. 501-517.

1976 Refractories: Chapter in Economics of the Mineral Industries, third edition: New York, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., p. 622-632.

1978 (with Nacamu, R. L.) High carbon-magnesia brick performance in electric arc furnace hot spots: Industrial Heating, April, p. 22-24.

1980 (with Martinet, J. R.) Carbon-magnesia bricks in electric arc furnaces: Refractories Journal, November/December, v. 6, p. 25-32.

------ Survey of chromites, natural magnesites, and Chinese bauxites used in refractories: SanFrancisco, California, 33rd Pacific Coast Regional Meeting of the American Ceramic Society.

MEMORIAL TO HARRY M. MIKAMI 197

1981 Refractories raw materials-supply situation: Washington, D.C., 83rd Annual Meeting of the American Ceramic Society.

1982 Refractory magnesia: Tbscaloosa, Alabama, Proceedings of the Raw Materials for Refractories Conference, U.S. Bureau of Mines, p. 180-219.

------ Refractory chromites from Southern Africa and other non-Masinloc sources: Tuscaloosa,Alabama, Proceedings of the Raw Materials for Refractories Conference, U.S. Bureau of Mines, p. 287-308.

1983 Chromite: Section of Annual Ceramic Minerals Resources Review, American Ceramic Society Bulletin, v. 62, no. 5, p. 572-573.

------ Chromite: Chapter of Industrial Minerals and Rocks, fifth edition: New York, AmericanInstitute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., p. 567-584.

Printed in U.S.A. on Recycled Paper 11/93