IN MEMORIAM

Francis T.C. Ting
1934-1989
by H.B. Lo
from TSOP Newsletter 6 (3), September 1989
Dr Francis T. C. Ting, Professor of Geology at West Virginia University, died July 20, 1989 of internal bleeding in June while vacationing in China with his wife, Susan. He returned to Taiwan for hospitalization and seemed to be recovering when internal bleeding recurred for the third and final time. Francis was born on April 26, 1934 in Shantung Province, China. When he was a teenager the family moved to Taiwan where he received his high school and college education. He received a B.S. degree from National Taiwan University in 1957. Then, he came to the United States for his graduate studies. He received a M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1962, and a Ph.D. degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1967.

His coal research began with the work on his Ph.D. dissertation which was entitled "Petrology of the Lower Kittanning Coal Seam, Western Pennsylvania". The chairman of his dissertation committee was Dr. W. Spackman.

Professor Ting was interested in all aspects of coal research including petrography, environments of deposition and utilization. He has been known as a very creative scientist and he always offered provocative ideas during scientific meetings. He has published numerous papers in the following topics: Petrography of coal, lignite and peat; Optical properties of coal; Automated petrographic analysis; Fracture in coal; Residual stress analysis in coal beds; Relation between coalification and tectonic structure; Environments of coal deposition; Coalification patterns; Coal geochemistry; Coal utilizations; and Oil Shale petrography.

In addition to his great contribution to coal sciences, Francis T. C. Ting will always be remembered for his warm and optimistic personality. He is survived by his wife, Susan; two children, Eric and Tracy; his father; and two brothers and one sister.


 

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