Maurice Ewing | |
|---|---|
 Ewing in 1948 | |
| Born | William Maurice Ewing (1906-05-12)May 12, 1906 Lockney, Texas, US |
| Died | May 4, 1974(1974-05-04) (aged 67) Galveston, Texas, US |
| Alma mater | Rice University |
| Awards | Alexander Agassiz Medal(1954) William Bowie Medal(1957) Cullum Geographical Medal(1961) John J. Carty Award(1963) Wollaston Medal(1969) National Medal of Science(1973) Vetlesen Prize(1960) Fellow of the Royal Society(1972)[1] Walter H. Bucher Medal(1974) Penrose Medal(1974) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | geophysics underwater acoustics oceanography |
| Institutions | Lehigh University Columbia University University of Texas |
| Thesis | Calculation of ray paths from seismic travel-time curves (1931) |
| Doctoral advisor | Harold A. Wilson |
William Maurice "Doc"Ewing (May 12, 1906 – May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Ewing has been described as a pioneeringgeophysicist who worked on the research ofseismic reflection andrefraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography,submarine sound transmission (including theSOFAR channel), deep seacore samples of the ocean bottom, theory and observation ofearthquake surface waves, fluidity of the Earth's core, generation and propagation ofmicroseisms, submarineexplosion seismology, marine gravity surveys,bathymetry andsedimentation, naturalradioactivity of ocean waters and sediments, study ofabyssal plains andsubmarine canyons.
He was born inLockney, Texas, where he was the eldest surviving child of a large farm family. He won a scholarship to attendRice University, earning aBA with honors in 1926. He completed his graduate studies at the same institution, earning anMA in 1927 and being awarded hisPhD in 1931. In 1928 he was married to Avarilla Hildenbrand, and the couple had a son. The couple divorced in 1941.[7]
Ewing worked as an instructor at the Rice Institute while pursuing his PhD before joining the faculty atLehigh University in 1930, where he served until 1944.[8] While at Lehigh, he was instrumental in initiating a program in geophysics. In 1944 he married Margaret Sloan Kidder, with whom he had four children.[9]
He moved toColumbia University, becoming a professor of geology in 1947. In 1959 he was named the Higgins Professor of Geology at Columbia. Dr. Ewing (often simply called 'Doc' by those who worked with him) was the founder (established in 1949) and first director of Lamont Geological Observatory (now known asLamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) inPalisades, New York) where he worked withJ. Lamar Worzel (gravity specialist),Dr. Frank Press (seismologist),Jack Nafe,Jack Oliver, and geologists and oceanographic cartographersDr. Bruce Heezen andMarie Tharp.
The former LDEOresearch vesselR/V Maurice Ewing was named in his honor.
He divorced a second time, and married his third wife Harriet Greene Bassett in 1965. In 1972 he joined theUniversity of Texas Medical Branch atGalveston, and was named the head of the Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences of the Marine Biomedical Institute.
During his career he published over 340 scientific papers. He served as president of theAmerican Geophysical Union and theSeismological Society of America. He led over 50 oceanic expeditions. He made many contributions tooceanography, including the discovery of theSOFAR Channel, the invention of thesofar bomb, and did much fundamental work onplate tectonics. While he was working on SOFAR, Ewing engaged in deep water photography, partly as a hobby and partly to help the government identify lost ships destroyed by U-boats.[10] He was the chief scientist on board theGlomar Challenger. He originatedProject Mogul, an early program to detect Soviet nuclear weapons tests.
Ewing suffered a fatal stroke in 1974 inGalveston, Texas.[9]
