Leigh "Wiki"Handy Royden (born October 15, 1955) is an American geologist.
Royden was born on October 15, 1955,[1] inPalo Alto, California. Royden's father wasHalsey Royden, a mathematician.[citation needed]
Royden received anA.B. degree in physics fromHarvard University and aPhD in geology andgeophysics from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[citation needed]
Royden became a member of the faculty at MIT in 1988. She is director of MIT'sExperimental Study Group.[2][3]
Royden has published onthermal subsidence at the northeasterncontinental margin ofNorth America and on retreatingsubduction boundaries formed during the collision of continentaltectonic plates.[2]
In 1990, she was awarded the Donath Medal (Young Scientist Award) by theGeological Society of America. Royden was named a fellow of theAmerican Geophysical Union in 2004.[4] In 2011, she received the George P. Woollard Award.[2] In 2013, she was awarded theStephan Mueller Medal by theEuropean Geosciences Union.[3] In 2018, she was named to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[5]
In 1994, Royden was one of 16 women faculty in the School of Science at MIT who drafted and co-signed a letter to the then-Dean of Science (now Chancellor of Berkeley) Robert Birgeneau, which started a campaign to highlight and challenge gender discrimination at MIT.[6]
She won silver with the eight at the1975 World Rowing Championships and became US champion in the single sculls in 1975. She missed out on taking part in the1976 Summer Olympics due to an ankle injury and accepted an offer of a summer internship at MIT instead.[7]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
