Franco Medioli

Medioli. Franco Silvio, April 1, 1935 – January 31, 2014. B.Sc., Collegio Maria Luigia (1953); Ph.D., Universita di Parma (1959). Emeritus Professor, Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University (1996-2014).

Dr. Franco Medioli passed away peacefully on January 31, 2014, at the age of 78. He was born in Parma, Italy, a son of the late Nino and Beatrice (Ruffini) Medioli. Growing up in war-torn Italy, he was greatly influenced by these experiences throughout his life. He received his Bachelor from Collegio Maria Luigia and completed his doctoral studies at the Università di Parma. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institut Français du Pétrole in Paris, France and studied English for a year in London, England.

He came to Canada as a newly-wed on April 1, 1965 on a NATO post-doctoral fellowship and fell in love with Nova Scotia and Canada. A year later, he accepted a position at Dalhousie University where he taught in the Geology Department from 1965-1996. Franco had many fond memories of his students over the years and was very proud to have inspired so many of his former graduate students to go on to become university professors themselves. In 1989 Franco returned to his beloved Parma, for three years, to become the Chair in Paleoecology at the Università di Parma. In 1996 he was appointed Professor Emeritus in Geology at Dalhousie University and continued his research efforts well into retirement. His outstanding work in the field of micropaleontology was recognized at the 2013 Geological Society of America Meeting where he was awarded the prestigious Joseph A. Cushman Foundation Award for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research.

A true geologist at heart, some of his fondest memories were of time spent in the Canadian Arctic, on Sable Island, throughout the marshes and estuaries of the Maritimes and at sea where he conducted many successful field seasons. Franco was the Honorary Italian Consul for Nova Scotia from 1975 to 1981, Associate Editor of "Maritime Sediments" from 1967–1980, and the Associate Director, Centre for Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, from 1985 to 1989. In his youth, Franco was very athletic, skiing the Alps and playing on his University Rugby Team. Franco also had an artistic side, an avid painter, an amateur actor during his university years, a great fan of Opera and classic Italian film.

He is survived by Caterina, his beloved wife of 48 years, daughters Maria (Stephen Fitzgerald), Halifax and Barbara (Shawn Keown), Ottawa, Ontario and grandchildren Daisy, Franco, Claire and Margaret. The family would like to thank the many staff at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, the NS Rehabilitation Centre, and the VON who cared for Franco over the past year.

Read about Dr. Medioli's Joseph A. Cushman Foundation Award for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research.

Cushman Award Ceremony Power Point presentation.

Education

• B.Sc., Collegio Maria Luigia (1953)
  
• Ph.D., University of London (1961)

Publications

Refer to Google Scholar

Positions

• Emeritus Professor, Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University
  1996-2014
• Professor, Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University
  1985-1996
• Associate Director, Centre for Marine Geology, Dalhousie University
  1986-1989
• Associate Professor, Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University
  1970-1985
• Assistant Professor, Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University
  1966-1970