Alexander Agassiz Medal
Encyclopedia
The Alexander Agassiz Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
for an original contribution in the science of oceanography
. It was established by Sir John Murray
in honor of his friend Alexander Agassiz.
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
for an original contribution in the science of oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
. It was established by Sir John Murray
John Murray (oceanographer)
Sir John Murray KCB FRS FRSE FRSGS was a pioneering Scottish oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist.-Early life:...
in honor of his friend Alexander Agassiz.
Recipients
| Recipient | Rationale | |
|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Johan Hjort Johan Hjort Johan Hjort FRS was a Norwegian fisheries scientist, marine zoologist, and oceanographer. He was among the most prominent and influential marine zoologists of his time.- The early years :... |
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| 1918 | Albert I, Prince of Monaco | "for his original contributions to the science of oceanography" |
| 1920 | Admiral Charles Dwight Sigsbee Charles Dwight Sigsbee Charles Dwight Sigsbee was a Rear Admiral inthe United States Navy. In his earlier career he was a pioneering oceanographer and hydrographer. He is best remembered as the captain of the USS Maine, which exploded in Havana harbor, Cuba, in 1898... |
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| 1924 | Otto S. Pettersson | "for his studies on the chemistry and physics of the sea" |
| 1926 | Wilhelm Bjerknes | "for his outstanding contributions to dynamic oceanography" |
| 1927 | Max Weber | "for his distinguished research in the field of oceanography" |
| 1928 | Vagn Walfrid Ekman Vagn Walfrid Ekman Vagn Walfrid Ekman was a Swedish oceanographer.Born in Stockholm to Fredrik Laurentz Ekman, himself an oceanographer, he became committed to oceanography while studying physics at the University of Uppsala and, in particular, on hearing Vilhelm Bjerknes lecture on fluid dynamics.During the... |
"for his work in physical oceanography" |
| 1929 | J. Stanley Gardiner John Stanley Gardiner John Stanley Gardiner FRS was a British zoologist and oceanographer.He was born in Belfast in 1872. His research career began in 1896 when he took part in the Royal Society's expedition to Funafuti atoll in the South Pacific ; from then onwards he was recognized as an authority on the distribution... |
"for his contributions to oceanography" |
| 1930 | Johannes Schmidt Johannes Schmidt (biologist) Johannes Schmidt was a Danish biologist credited with discovering in 1920 that eels migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn... |
"for his conduct of numerous oceanographic expeditions, his investigations of the life of eels, and the investigations of numerous problems connected with fishes, among which may be mentioned his work on fish genetics and geographic variation" |
| 1931 | Henry B. Bigelow Henry Bryant Bigelow Henry Bryant Bigelow was an American oceanographer and marine biologist.After graduating from Harvard in 1901, he began working with famed ichthyologist Alexander Agassiz. Bigelow accompanied Agassiz on several major marine science expeditions including one aboard the Albatross in 1907... |
|
| 1932 | Albert Defant | "for his studies on atmospheric and oceanic circulation and his notable contributions to theoretical oceanography" |
| 1933 | Bjørn Helland-Hansen | "for his studies in physical oceanography and especially for his contributions to knowledge of the dynamic circulation of the ocean" |
| 1934 | Haaken H. Gran Haaken Hasberg Gran -Personal life:Gran was born in Tønsberg as the son of naval captain August Kriegsmann Gran and his wife Agnes Hasberg . He was the paternal grandson of politician Jens Gran, nephew of businessperson Jens Gran, Jr., first cousin of aviator Tryggve Gran and second cousin of writer Gerhard Gran... |
"for his contributions to knowledge of the factors controlling organic production in the sea" |
| 1935 | Martin Knudsen Martin Knudsen This article is about the Danish physicist Martin Knudsen. For the Norwegian footballer, see Martin Knudsen .Martin Hans Christian Knudsen was a Danish physicist who taught and conducted research at the Technical University of DenmarkHe is primarily known for his study of molecular gas flow and the... |
|
| 1935 | T. Wayland Vaughan | "for his investigations of corals, foraminifer, and submarine deposits, and for his leadership in developing oceanographic activities on the Pacific coast of America" |
| 1937 | Edgar J. Allen Edgar Johnson Allen Edgar Johnson Allen FRS was a British marine biologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1914 and won the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society in 1926 and the Royal Society's Darwin Medal in 1936.... |
|
| 1938 | Harald Sverdrup Harald Sverdrup Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was a Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist who made a number of important theoretical discoveries in these fields. Having first worked in Bergen and Leipzig he was the scientific director of the North Polar expedition of Roald Amundsen aboard the Maud from 1918 to 1925... |
|
| 1939 | Frank R. Lillie | |
| 1942 | Columbus Iselin II | "for his studies of the Gulf stream system, for his leadership in the development of a general program of the physical oceanography of the North Atlantic, and for his distinctive direction of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution both in times of peace and war" |
| 1946 | Joseph Proudman Joseph Proudman Joseph Proudman , CBE, FRS was a distinguished British mathematician and oceanographer of international repute... |
"for his distinguished studies of the tides of the world" |
| 1947 | Felix A. Vening Meinesz | "for his contributions to oceanography, particularly by his invention of an apparatus for the determination of gravity at sea, by making many measurements of gravity over each of the great oceans, and by the utilization of these observations in interpreting the physical properties and behavior of the Earth's crust" |
| 1948 | Thomas G. Thompson | "for his leadership in investigations of the complex chemistry of the ocean, with special attention to the waters of the north-east Pacific, Puget Sound, and San Juan Archipelago, and the Bering and Chukchi Seas" |
| 1951 | Harry A. Marmer | "for his distinguished contributions in tidal surveys. His projects have made available to oceanographers accurate, long-period records for large areas where previously very little observational data were available. The program and work which he has originated ultimately will produce reliable conclusions on present-day tectonic processes and the rate of change in the quantity of water in the ocean" |
| 1952 | H. W. Harvey H. W. Harvey Dr Hildebrand Wolfe Harvey CBE FRS was an English marine biologist.-Background:... |
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| 1954 | Maurice Ewing Maurice Ewing William Maurice "Doc" Ewing was an American geophysicist and oceanographer.Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission , deep sea coring of the ocean... |
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| 1955 | Alfred C. Redfield Alfred C. Redfield Alfred Clarence Redfield was an American oceanographer.He is especially known for having discovered the Redfield ratio, which describes the ratio between nutrients in plankton and ocean water. In 1966, he received the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America... |
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| 1959 | Martin W. Johnson Martin W. Johnson Professor Martin Wiggo Johnson Professor Martin Wiggo Johnson Professor Martin Wiggo Johnson (born September 30, 1893, Chandler, South Dakota, died November 28, 1984, Snohomish, Washington, was an American oceanographer.-Background:... |
"for his outstanding leadership in biological and general oceanography. Among Dr. Johnson's contributions are explanations for two newly discovered acoustic phenomena in the sea. These explanations brought biologist and physicists together in a common interest, and introduced underwater acoustics as a prime tool for marine ecology" |
| 1960 | Anton F. Bruun Anton Frederik Bruun Anton Frederik Bruun was a Danish oceanographer and ichthyologist.He was the first president of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The R/V Anton Bruun was named after him.-Source:... |
"for his leadership in the study of the biology of the deep ocean" |
| 1962 | George Deacon George Deacon Sir George Edward Raven Deacon was a British oceanographer and chemist.He was born in Leicester, the son of George Raven and Emma Deacon and educated at the Newarke school, Leicester... |
"for his investigations of the hydrography of the southern ocean" |
| 1963 | Roger R. Revelle | "for his contributions to the understanding of oceanic processes and the geology of the sea floor, and through his research, to the advancement of scientific oceanography throughout the world" |
| 1965 | Sir Edward Bullard Edward Bullard Sir Edward "Teddy" Crisp Bullard FRS was a geophysicist who is considered, along with Maurice Ewing, to have founded the discipline of marine geophysics... |
"for his significant investigations of the earth from its surface to its core" |
| 1966 | Carl H. Eckart | "for his significant contributions to physical oceanography" |
| 1969 | Frederick C. Fuglister | "for his stimulating and successful observations of the Gulf Stream and its vortices" |
| 1972 | Seiya Uyeda | "for his contributions to the tectonic and thermal history of the earth and, most notably, the Sea of Japan" |
| 1973 | John H. Steele John H. Steele John H. Steele was an American newspaper editor.Born in Charleston, South Carolina and was living in Georgia by the 1830s.He served as secretary to George W... |
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| 1976 | Walter H. Munk | "for his outstanding experimental and theoretical research on the spectrum of motion in the oceans and the earth" |
| 1979 | Henry Stommel Henry Stommel Henry Melson Stommel was a major contributor to the field of physical oceanography. Beginning in the 1940s, he advanced theories about global ocean circulation patterns and the behavior of the Gulf Stream that form the basis of physical oceanography today... |
"for his work at sea, in the laboratory and by analyses through which he made major advances in understanding of ocean circulation and distribution of water masses" |
| 1986 | Wallace S. Broecker Wallace S. Broecker Wallace Smith Broecker is the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and a scientist at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory... |
"for his work on chemical exchange among the oceans, atmosphere, and solid Earth, making great contributions to understanding the role of the oceans in the Earth's carbon cycle and its climate" |
| 1989 | Cesare Emiliani Cesare Emiliani Cesare Emiliani was an Italian-American scientist, considered one of the greatest geologists and micropaleontologists of the 20th century and the founder of paleoceanography, developing the timescale of marine isotope stages, which despite modifications remains in very wide use today.He... |
"for masterful achievements using isotopic palaeotemperatures to establish the climatic history of the Pleistocene and for suggesting their relation to the Milankovitch orbital cycles" |
| 1992 | Joseph L. Reid | "for his exploration and observation of the circulation of the world ocean, assembly of its many interacting parts with a lifetime of care, dedication, and insight" |
| 1995 | Victor V. Vacquier | "for his discovery of the flux-gate magnetometer, and for the marine magnetic anomaly surveys that led to the acceptance of the theory of sea-floor spreading" |
| 1998 | Walter C. Pitman, III Walter C. Pitman, III Walter Clarkson Pitman, III is a geophysicist and a professor emeritus at Columbia University. His measurements of magnetic anomalies on the ocean floor supported the Morley–Vine–Matthews hypothesis explaining seafloor spreading. With William Ryan, he developed the Black Sea deluge theory... |
"for his fundamental contribution to the plate tectonic revolution through insightful analysis of marine magnetic anomalies and for his studies of the causes and effects of sea-level changes" |
| 2001 | Charles S. Cox | "for his pioneering studies, both theoretical and instrumental, of oceanic waves, microstructure and mixing, and of electromagnetic fields in the ocean and in the seafloor" |
| 2004 | Klaus Wyrtki Klaus Wyrtki Klaus Wyrtki is an American physical oceanographer.Born on February 7, 1925 in Tarnowitz, Upper Silesia, Poland, he attended the University of Marburg in Germany, in 1945-1948, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kiel in 1950... |
"for fundamental contributions to the understanding of the oceanic general circulation of abyssal and thermocline waters and for providing the intellectual underpinning for our understanding of ENSO (El Niño)" |
| 2007 | James R. Ledwell | "for innovative and insightful tracer experiments using sulfur hexafluoride to understand vertical diffusivity and turbulent mixing in the open ocean" |
| 2010 | Sallie W. Chisholm | "for pioneering studies of the dominant photosynthetic organisms in the sea and for integrating her results into a new understanding of the global ocean" |