Bostwick, Richard C. (1943- )

Richard C. Bostwick of New York City received his B.A. Degree from Yale University in 1965, and for 35 years worked as an applications and salesperson for X-ray Fluorescence sample preparation equipment at SPEX SamplePrep LLC in Metuchen, New Jersey. He has also presented lectures on XRF sample preparation at two XRF "clinics." In the summer of 1964 he served as a summer intern at the Sterling mine in Ogdensburg, New Jersey, where he also worked as a miner from early 1975 to late 1978.

Richard is a former curator and exhibits designer at the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence on Ogdensburg, New Jersey. He is a specialist in the minerals of Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey, is a past President of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society and has served on their Board of Trustees, as well as on the Board of the Franklin Mineral Museum. He has also served as the Northeast Regional Vice President of the international Fluorescent Mineral Society. He is an Honorary life member of the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, an Honorary member of the New York Mineralogical Club, and a Fellow of the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD).

The mineral bostwickite was named in Richard's honor in 1983. His publications include co-authorship (with Thomas S. Warren, Sterling Gleason, and Earl R. Verbeek) of Ultraviolet Light and Fluorescent Minerals (1995). He maintains the checklist of fluorescent minerals from Franklin and Sterling Hill and has given many talks about them, in addition to writing articles that have appeared in various mineral-hobby and mineralogical publications, including American Mineral Treasures (2008), and The Picking Table, journal of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society.

Today, having retired from SPEX, he serves as Master of Ceremonies at the annual Miners Day and Volunteer Appreciation Day, held at the Franklin Mineral Museum on the first weekend of May. He and his wife, Tema Hecht (they married in 1994), are life members of the Franklin Mineral Museum and the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. They are East Coasters with a special interest in fluorescent minerals. He currently has no distinctive mineral labels for his specimens but may prepare some in the future.