George Patrick Leonard Walker (2 March 1926 – 17 January 2005) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

who began his career studying mineralogy and later made significant contributions to

volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin word '' vulcan''. Vulcan was the an ...

. He was widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern quantitative volcanology.

Biography

Walker was born in

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west toward ...

, London in 1926. He was the only child of Leonard Walker, an insurance salesman, and Evelyn Frances (nee McConkey), a nurse. He went to school at Acton Lane Elementary School, and won a scholarship to Willesden County School in 1937. In 1939, Walker and his mother were in

Ballinderry Ballinderry () is a small civil and ecclesiastical parish on both sides of the County Londonderry / County Tyrone border in Northern Ireland. It is a rural parish of about 350 houses and lies on the western shores of Lough Neagh. The parish c ...

, County Antrim, when

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broke out. They stayed in Ballindery, and Walker completed his schooling at Wallace High School, Lisburn. Walker went to Queen's University, Belfast to study geology and graduated with a BSc in 1948, and an MSc in 1949. He then went on to study for a PhD at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, under the supervision of W Q Kennedy. His dissertation focussed on the secondary (alteration) minerals in the igneous rocks of Northern Ireland. In the summers of 1952 and 1953, Walker joined Kennedy on geological expeditions to the

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and the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

Career and research

In 1952 Walker took up an assistant lectureship in mineralogy at Imperial College, London. He was promoted to lecturer in 1954 and finished his PhD in 1956. For the next ten years, Walker turned his attention to the study of alteration minerals in lavas of eastern Iceland, spending each summer from 1955 to 1966 mapping in Iceland. This work earned him an international reputation as a meticulous mineralogist, and provided the first evidence for how the crust grows at oceanic ridges. In 1964, Walker was promoted to

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at Imperial college. Following the eruption of

Surtsey Surtsey (" Surtr's island" in Icelandic, ) is a volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At Surtsey is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began ...

from 1963-1967, Walker began to take an interest in active volcanism. This led to some of his pioneering studies, first of basaltic volcanism and lava flows on Mount Etna; and later, on

pyroclastic rocks Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

and the products of explosive volcanic eruptions, in Italy, the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

. In 1977, Walker was awarded a Captain James Cook Fellowship of the

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, which he took up at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Although this began as a visiting position, in 1978 Walker resigned from Imperial College, and moved to New Zealand with his family. In 1981, he moved to the newly created Gordon Macdonald Chair in Volcanology at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

. He remained in post until retirement, in 1996.

Awards and honours

Walker received many awards and fellowships in recognition of his meticulous and influential work. *Icelandic

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

, conferred by the president of Iceland in 1977. *Election as Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1975. *McKay Hammer award of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand in 1982. *

Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...

of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1982. *University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Research in 1985. *Honorary Fellowship of the

in 1987. *Fellowship of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

in 1987. *Fellowship of the

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 a ...

in 1988. *Honorary D.Sc. from the

University of New Zealand The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

in 1988. *Dr. scient. hon. c. from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

in 1988. *

Thorarinsson Medal The Thorarinsson Medal is awarded every four years by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) for outstanding contributions to the general field of volcanology, and is the highest award given by ...

(IAVCEI) in 1989. *

Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), ...

(Geological Society of London) in 1995.

Selected publications

* * * *

Personal life

In 1958, Walker married Hazel Smith. They had a daughter, Alison, and a son, Leonard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, George Patrick Leonard 1926 births 2005 deaths 20th-century British geologists British volcanologists Fellows of the Royal Society Wollaston Medal winners Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Lyell Medal winners University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty Thorarinsson Medalists Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People educated at Willesden County Grammar School People educated at Wallace High School, Lisburn