Anthony Hallam, aka Tony Hallam, (23 December 1933 – 23 October 2017) was a British geologist, palaeontologist and writer. His research interests concentrated on the Jurassic Period, with particular reference to

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

, sea level changes and

palaeontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He was also interested in mass extinctions, especially the end Triassic event.

Biography

Born in Leicester and having attended local schools, Hallam won an exhibition to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, graduating with a double first class degree in geology 1955. He remained at Cambridge University as researcher under the supervision of the late William Joscelyn Arkell, widely regarded as the expert on the Jurassic Period at that time. His thesis involved the study of the alternating limestone –

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

rhythms of the Lower Jurassic of Southern England. He also published work on the evolution of ''

Gryphaea ''Gryphaea'', one of the genera known as devil's toenails, is a genus of extinct oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Gryphaeidae. These fossils range from the Triassic period to the middle Paleogene period, but are mostly rest ...

'', an extinct species of oyster. He was awarded a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1959. Following a period as

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

at the University of Edinburgh (1958–67), Hallam moved to the University of Oxford as

in geology. He was also a Fellow of

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. It was during this time that he continued his research into the controversial evolution of ''Gryphaea'', publishing several papers with the late

Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould sp ...

. Hallam was appointed Lapworth Professor of geology at the University of Birmingham in 1977. This prestigious chair was named in honour of Charles Lapworth, the first Professor of geology at that university. Following retirement in 1999, Hallam remained at Birmingham University as professor emeritus. He directly supervised over 35 graduate research students, including Bruce Sellwood (1967–70) and Geoff Townson (1968–71).

Publications

He has written over 200 research papers and is the author or editor of more than twelve books, including ''Jurassic Environments'', ''Great Geological Controversies'' and ''Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities: The Causes of Mass Extinctions''. *''Phanerozoic sea-level changes'', ( Columbia University Press 1992)

Awards

He was awarded the Lyell Medal by the Geological Society of London in 1990. In 2007, he was awarded the Lapworth Medal, by the Palaeontological Association, that Society's highest award.Palaeontological Association
Lapworth Medal Recipients
Verified 2011-01-28.

Personal life

Hallam was a very active researcher, undertaking field trips and attending conferences well into retirement. In his spare time he enjoyed watching football, the arts, cinema and travel.

References

External links

Anthony Hallam's website
at University of Birmingham {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallam, Anthony 1933 births 2017 deaths People from Leicester Lyell Medal winners Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of New College, Oxford Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Birmingham 20th-century British geologists British palaeontologists