George West Wetherill

Biography

Abstract

George Wetherill was Director Emeritus and Staff Member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at Carnegie Institution of Washington (1991-2006). Other institutional affiliations included University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests included planetology, geochronology, meteorites, origin and evolution of solar system, lunar history, Precambrian geology, kinetics of human lead metabolism, habitability of planetary systems.

Important Dates

August 12, 1925Birth, Philadelphia (Pa.).

1943 – 1946Radar Technician, United States, Navy.

1948Obtained PhB in General Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1949Obtained SB in Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1951Obtained SM in Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1953Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1953 – 1960Staff Member, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).

1959Visiting Professor of Geochemistry, California Institute of Technology.

1960 – 1975Professor of Geophysics and Geology (1960-1975) and Chair, Department of Planetary and Space Science (1968-1972), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (Calif.).

1962 – 1965Member, Earth Science Panel, National Science Foundation.

1969 – 1976Member, Lunar and Planetary Missions Board (1969-1970); Member, Physical Science Committee (1971-1975); Chair, Working Group for the Post-Viking Exploration of Mars (1972-1973); and Member, Board of Visitors, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1972-1976), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1970 – 1972President, Planetology Section, American Geophysical Union.

1974Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1975 – 1976President, Geochemical Society.

1975 – 2006Director (1975-1991) and Director Emeritus and Staff Member (1991-2006), Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).

1977 – 1980President, International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry.

1981 – 1996Editor, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science.

1982 – 1985Member, Space Science Board, National Academy of Sciences.

1983 – 1985President, Meteoritical Society.

1985 – 1995Member, Commission on Physical Sciences Mathematics and National Resources (1985-1988); Member, Executive Committee, Committee on the USSR and Eastern Europe (1986-1991); and Member, Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (1992-1995), National Research Council.

1987Vikram Sarabhai Visiting Professor and Memorial Lecturer, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India.

1997Awarded National Medal of Science.

July 19, 2006Death, Washington (D.C.).

Occupation

Geophysicist.

Places

Birth

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Undergraduate Education

Chicago (Ill.)

Graduate Education

Chicago (Ill.)

Employment

Washington (D.C.)

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Washington (D.C.)

Death

Washington (D.C.)

Subjects

Geological time.

Geology.

Geophysics.

Meteorites.

Planetary science.

Relationships

People

Colleagues

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

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

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Drake, James (James F.)

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Fleming, J. A. (John Adam), 1877-1956

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Forbush, Scott E., 1904-1984

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Holstein, Theodore David, 1915-1985

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Peale, Stanton Jerrold

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

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

Both employed at University of California, Los Angeles.

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

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

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Additional

Broecker, Wallace S., 1931-

Glen, William

Institutions

Major Positions

Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism

Staff Member; Director; and Director Emeritus and Staff Member.

Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmadābād, India)

Vikram Sarabhai Visiting Professor and Memorial Lecturer.

United States. Navy

Radar Technician.

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

Professor of Geophysics and Geology and Department Chair.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Geophysical Union

President, Planetology Section.

Annual Reviews, Inc.

Editor, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science.

California Institute of Technology. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

Visiting Professor of Geochemistry.

Geochemical Society

President.

International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry

President.

Meteoritical Society

President.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member and Member, Space Science Board.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Member, Commission on Physical Sciences Mathematics and National Resources; Member, Executive Committee, Committee on the USSR and Eastern Europe; and Member, Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration.

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Member, Earth Science Panel.

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Member, Lunar and Planetary Missions Board; Member, Physical Science Committee; Chair, Working Group for the Post-Viking Exploration of Mars; and Member, Board of Visitors, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

University of Chicago

Obtained PhB in General Studies (1948).

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained SB (1949), SM (1951), and PhD (1953).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Responses to History of Geophysics Survey, 1997.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William Glen's project in the history of the mass-extinction debates: oral history interviews, 1984-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Oral history interview with Wallace S. Broecker, 1995 December 29, 1997 May 8 and June 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Subject

George West Wetherill Physics Today obituary.