Graham Michael "Mike" Purdy is a British geophysicist and oceanographer who specializes in marine seismology. He retired as the Executive Vice President for Research at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on 1 January 2020. Previously, he was the Director of Columbia's

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory The Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is the scientific research center of the Columbia Climate School, and a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. It focuses on climate and earth sciences and is located on a 189-acre (64 h ...

(LDEO). Currently he is a Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Education

Purdy received a B.S. with honors in 1969 and an M.S. in 1970 from

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, then received a PhD in marine geophysics from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1974.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

After leaving Cambridge, Purdy joined WHOI in 1974 as a Post Doctoral Scholar. In 1991, he became Chairman of the Department of Geology and Geophysics (G&G), a position he held until leaving WHOI in 1995 for the NSF.

National Science Foundation

From 1995 to 2000, Purdy served as the Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences in the Geosciences Directorate of the NSF. He oversaw a breadth of research activities, including the international

Ocean Drilling Program The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) was a multinational effort to explore and study the composition and structure of the Earth's oceanic basins. ODP, which began in 1985, was the successor to the Deep Sea Drilling Project initiated in 1968 by th ...

and the foundation-wide Life in Extreme Environments (LExEn) initiative, which he established in 199

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory

At LDEO, Purdy has worked to further the department's role in The Earth Institute at Columbia University, an inter-departmental research institute founded in 1995 to address the complex social, economic, and environmental implications of the earth sciences. LDEO is the largest component of this alliance, and Purdy has taken an interest in interdisciplinary approaches to the traditional earth science work of the department. For example, he began the Director’s Series on the Science of Diversity, bringing researchers in the social sciences to LDEO to speak on issues such as gender differences in scientific research productivity. He has dedicated particular attention to the problem of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, particularly as highlighted by the work of fellow LDEO scientist

Wally Broecker Wallace "Wally" Smith Broecker (November 29, 1931 – February 18, 2019) was an American geochemist. He was the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, a scientist at Columbia's Lamont–D ...

Awards and honors

*Maurice Ewing Medal (

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

), 2006

References

External links

LDEO home pageEarth Institute home pageLDEO "Letter from the Director"ISI Highly-Cited Researcher PageQuickTime video of Purdy discussing the "need for a global perspective in science research and training" from The Earth Institute
http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/library/videos2001-03.html ] {{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, G. Michael Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British expatriate academics in the United States British oceanographers British geophysicists Alumni of Imperial College London Columbia University faculty Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Marine geophysicists