SOIL RESEARCH PIONEER

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27874, 24 January 1956, Page 9

SOIL RESEARCH PIONEER

DR. L. I. GRANGE TO RETIRE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIRECTOR "The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, January 20. A pioneer in soil research work in New Zealand and director of the Geological Survey since 1952, Dr. L. I. Grange will retire from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research on March 31. Dr. Grange is the first man to have been head of two divisions of the D.S.I.R. In 1931 he left the Geological Survey to establish the Soil Bureau of which he was head until his reappointment to the Geological Survey. ‘ In recent months he was in the news when he led a team to the West Coast to investigate reported finds of uranium. Born in Wanganui 6i years ago, Dr. Grange was educated at the Waihi High School and the Waihi School of Mines, where he won a scholarship which took him to the University® of Otago. He graduated doctor of science and is an associate of the Otago School of Mines and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Joining the Geological Survey in 1919 when it ,was part of the Mines Department, Dr. Grange transferred to the D.S.I.R. when it was formed in 1927. Before joining the Soil Bureau Dr. Grange carried out the first major geological work in the Rotorua-Taupo district. Between 1923 and 1926 he made geological investigations in the Mount Arthur area of the northern part of the South Island. “This area is always believed to have a high content ’of mineral wealth,” said Dr. Grange. “So far results have been disappointing. A lot more work must be done specially by geologists. It is most interesting geological country and just about ripe for another go.” ’