William Alexander (Alex) DeerFRS (26 October 1910 – 8 February 2009) was a distinguished Britishgeologist,petrologist andmineralogist.
Alex Deer was born inRusholme, Manchester, the son of William Deer. He attendedManchester Central High School and thenManchester University, and took up a research studentship atSt John's College, Cambridge in 1934, to study for aPhD.[1]
In 1937, after completing his PhD, Deer was appointed an assistant lecturer at the University of Manchester.[2] On the outbreak of war in 1939, Deer joined the Chemical Warfare Section of the Royal Engineers, and later transferred to the Operations Staff. He served in the Middle East, Burma and North Africa, and was appointed to the rank oflieutenant-colonel.[1]
Deer returned to Cambridge in 1946, where he was appointed University Demonstrator in mineralogy and petrology, and Fellow and Junior Bursar atSt John's College, Cambridge. He was appointed a Tutor in 1949. In 1950, he was elected to the Chair of Geology at Manchester, where he spent the next several years. Deer returned to theUniversity of Cambridge in 1961, after his election asProfessor of Mineralogy and Petrology, succeedingCE Tilley. He was served asMaster ofTrinity Hall, Cambridge from 1966 to 1975, andVice-Chancellor of Cambridge University from 1971 to 1973.[3]
Deer was best known for his geological and petrological work in Greenland withLawrence Wager; and later, for his extensive contributions as editor, along withRobert Andrew Howie andJack Zussman, of the 11-volume reference workRock-Forming Minerals and the abridged version,An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals. The mineral deerite (IMA 1964–016) was named in his honour.[4]
Deer was elected Honorary Fellow of bothSt John's College andTrinity Hall Cambridge.[5][6]
In 1935–1936, he accompaniedLawrence Wager as a petrologist on the 1935–1936 British East Greenland Expedition. They over-wintered on Greenland, with a party that included Wager's wife, Phyllis Wager (née Worthington), and Wager's brother (Dr Harold Geoffrey Wager; Hal) and sister-in-law (Elizabeth Mary Wager; Kit).[7] Other members of the party included P. B. Chambers, Dr E. C. Fountaine, and fourteenInuit, from two families.[8] They built and stayed in a camp with a three-roomed central house, including a physiological laboratory and mess room, on the Skaergaard Peninsula, at the entrance toKangerdlugssuak Fjord.[9] In 1939, Wager and Deer published their report of the expedition. This treatise on theSkaergaard intrusion is regarded as one of the most significant contributions to the science of igneous petrology of the time.
In 1948 Deer led the NE Coast Baffin Land Expedition withChris Brasher, also of St John's College, to see whether the igneous activity of the Kangerdlugssuaq region of East Greenland and theDisko Island area of West Greenland continued westward into Baffin Island. The reconnaissance was hampered by rough seas.
In 1953, Deer andWager jointly led a British Greenland Geological Expedition back to Kangerdlugssuaq, where Wager had worked in 1930–31 and 1932, and Wager and Deer had overwintered in 1935–36. Five other geologists from Oxford and Manchester universities took part including C. J. Hughes (Oxford), G. D. Nicholls (Manchester)G. M. Brown (Oxford), D. S. Weedon (Oxford) and P. E. Brown (Manchester).[10]
In 1966 Deer led another British Greenland Geological Expedition, with a party including G. A. Chinner (Cambridge), C. G. G. Born (Cambridge) R. Elsdon (Cambridge) P. D. Burnford (Cambridge) I. A. D. Sweetman (Cambridge) B. Atkins (Oxford) C. Kent-Brookes (Oxford) J. D. Bell (Oxford) D. G. Parrish (Oxford) J. D. Gunner (Oxford) P. E. Brown (Sheffield) C. D. Curtis (Sheffield) D. C. Dunn, Medical officer (Sheffield) D. Abbott, Research and Productivity Corporation (Sheffield) and N. McKinnon, P. A. Stirling, T. J. Sweeney, drillers. They carried out a programme of drilling and geological survey in Kangerdlugssuaq, extending the work of the 1953 British East Greenland Geological Expedition.[9]
Deer married Margaret Marjorie Kidd, daughter of the electrical engineer William Kidd, in 1939 atSt Paul's Methodist Church, Didsbury.[2] Deer's papers are held at theSedgwick Museum Archives, University of Cambridge.[9]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Master ofTrinity Hall, Cambridge 1966–1975 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology,University of Cambridge 1961–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1971–1973 | Succeeded by |
