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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as SubjectPublished as Subject

David Griggs

Photo

Dates

October 6, 1911 – December 31, 1974

Authorized Form of Name

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Additional Forms of Names

Griggs, David Tressel

Biography

Abstract

David Tressel Griggs was Chief Scientist at the United States Air Force (1951-1952). Other institutional affiliations included the University of California, Los Angeles and Douglas Aircraft Company. His research interests included rock creep and military applications of radar.

Important Dates

October 6, 1911Birth, Columbus (Ohio).

1928 – 1929Took undergraduate classes, George Washington University, Washington (D.C.).

1932Obtained AB, Ohio State University, Columbus (Ohio).

1933Obtained AM, Ohio State University, Columbus (Ohio).

1934 – 1941Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1941 – 1942Research Associate, Radiation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

1942 – 1946Expert Consultant to the Secretary of War, United States Department of War.

1946 – 1948Section Chief, Physics, Project Rand, Douglas Aircraft Company.

1948 – 1974Professor of Geophysics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (Calif.).

1951 – 1952Chief Scientist, United States Air Force.

1952Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1958 – 1962Consultant, United States Atomic Energy Comission.

1958 – 1962Consultant, RAND Corporation.

1959Member, Panel for Seismic Improvements, President's Scientific Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1964 – 1967President, Tectonophysics Section, American Geophysical Union.

December 31, 1974Death, Snowmass (Colo.).

Occupation

Geophysicist.

Places

Birth

Columbus (Ohio)

Undergraduate Education

Washington (D.C.)

Columbus (Ohio)

Graduate Education

Columbus (Ohio)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Death

Snowmass (Colo.)

Subjects

Geology.

Geophysics.

Plate tectonics.

Radar.

Rocks creep.

Relationships

People

Family

Andron, Nicola Griggs

Daughter.

Griggs, Helen Avery

Wife, married 1946.

Griggs, Laura Amelia Tressel

Mother.

Griggs, Robert F. (Robert Fiske), 1881-

Father.

Griggs, Stephen

Son.

Colleagues

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bjerknes, J. (Jacob Aall Bonnevie), 1897-1975

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brooks, Harvey

Both employed at Harvard University.

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Feenberg, Eugene

Both employed at Harvard University.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both employed at Harvard University.

Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Lyman, Theodore, 1874-1954

Both employed at Harvard University.

Nier, Alfred O. (Alfred Otto), 1911-1994

Both employed at Harvard University.

Peale, Stanton Jerrold

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956

Both employed at Harvard University.

Purcell, Edward M.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Saunders, Frederick A. (Frederick Albert), 1875-1963

Both employed at Harvard University.

Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tousey, Richard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ulam, Stanislaw M.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Both employed at Harvard University.

Vestine, E. H. (Ernest Harry), 1906-1968

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Wetherill, George West

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Additional

Knopoff, Leon, 1925-

Raleigh, C. Barry

Sharp, Robert P. (Robert Phillip)

Institutions

Major Positions

Douglas Aircraft Company

Section Chief, Physics, Project Rand.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory

Research Associate.

Rand Corporation

Consultant.

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

Consultant.

United States. Air Force

Chief Scientist.

United States. War Department

Expert Consultant to the Secretary of War.

University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Professor of Geophysics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Geophysical Union

President, Tectonophysics Section.

George Washington University. Department of Physics

Took undergraduate classes.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Ohio State University. Department of Physics

Obtained AB (1932) and AM (1933).

United States. President's Science Advisory Committee

Member.

Resources

Archival Resources

Subject

Oral history interview with C. Barry Raleigh, 1997 December 16 and 17.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leon Knopoff, 1990 April 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Phillip Sharp, 1990 April 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Subject

"David Tressel Griggs: 1911-1974", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences