The German Mineralogical Society awards the Abraham Gottlob Werner Silver Medal to Professor Dr. David C. Rubie in recognition of his fundamental research on the states and processes of the Earth's interior. Through the innovative development of multianvil technology, he was able to quantify his pioneering concepts on the kinetics of metamorphic reactions and the relationship between rheology and transformation plasticity. This proved to be crucial for understanding the driving forces of plate tectonics and the preservation of ultrahigh-pressure mineral assemblages. Through his investigations of transformation mechanisms, particularly those involving the high-pressure polymorphs of olivine, he successfully linked atomic-scale processes with their global-scale consequences. His studies on element fractionation and the viscosity of silicate melts under extreme conditions have enabled the development of quantitative models for the differentiation of the proto-Earth from a magma ocean. His numerous publications in internationally renowned scientific journals are regarded as pioneering contributions to the fields of mineralogy, geochemistry, and geophysics.