George Jarvis Brush (b. 1831, d. 1912) first became interested
in mineralogy at the age of 15 while attending a school run by Theodore
S. Gold in West Cornwall, Connecticut. Shortly after studying with
Gold, Brush left school to work in a mercantile house for 2 years.
After a serious illness, he went into farming.
In
1848 he moved to New Haven to attend lectures by Benjamin Silliman, Jr.
and John P. Norton on practical chemistry and agriculture. From this
beginning, he studied chemistry, metallurgy and mineralogy. He entered
Yale in 1848 and left in 1850 to become an assistant to Benjamin
Silliman, Jr. at Louisville University. After a special examination, he
was allowed to graduate from Yale in 1852 with a Ph.D. From 1852 to
1855, Brush first worked at the University of Virginia and then
traveled, worked, and studied in Europe. During this time, he met many
of the European scientists, with whom he continued to correspond and
exchange minerals.
In 1855, Brush was elected Professor of Metallurgy at the recently
established Yale Scientific School, later named the Sheffield
Scientific School. In 1864, his role was expanded to include mineralogy
and, in 1871, it was limited to mineralogy. He became the first
director of the Sheffield Scientific School in 1872. In 1898, Brush
retired from active teaching and the Sheffield directorship. He
continued his association with the school in various capacities,
including as secretary, treasurer and president of the board, until
1911. The mineral “brushite” was named in his honor by G.E. Moore.
In 1904, Brush presented his collection of approximately 15,000 mineral
specimens, and a fund to maintain the collection, to the Sheffield
Scientific School. The Brush Collection is now administered by the Division of Mineralogy at the Yale Peabody Museum.