Suzanne Mahlburg Kay

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Suzanne Mahlburg Kay is the William & Katherine Snee Professor of Geological Sciences at Cornell University. She studies how the continental crust forms and evolves, with a focus on how regional tectonics influence magmatic processes. Her work often centers on the Andes in Central and South America, including mid-Tertiary magmatic rocks and the Punta Altiplano, using techniques like neutron activation analysis, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy.

Kay earned a Master of Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1972 and a PhD in mineralogy and petrology from Brown University. After a postdoctoral period at the University of California, Los Angeles, she joined Cornell as a postdoctoral researcher in 1976. She was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Buenos Aires in 1989 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992 and to Professor in 1999.

In addition to her research, Kay has held leadership roles such as president of the Geological Society of America (2013–2014) and service on the Dana Medal Committee of the Mineralogical Society of America (2013–2015). She serves on editorial boards and on the American Geophysical Union’s Fellows selection committee. Her honors include the 2023 Penrose Medal from the Geological Society of America, along with multiple fellowships and awards recognizing her contributions to geology and education.