John Hobart Roscoe (March 23, 1919 - February 23, 2007) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...

and

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

. He is best known for his work with Operation Highjump and

Operation Windmill Operation Windmill (OpWml) was the United States Navy's Second Antarctica Developments Project, an exploration and training mission to Antarctica in 1947–1948. This operation was a follow-up to the First Antarctica Development Project known as O ...

, for which there was a glacier named after him.

Early life

Roscoe was born in Syracuse,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His father owned a wholesale fruit business. He attended

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020-21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1, ...

, before graduating in Business Administration from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, then a master's degree in Geography before planning to pursue a Ph.D. in cartography at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Military service

After leaving university in 1941, and before he was able to begin studying cartography in at UCLA, he was convinced to join the Intelligence Office of the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

, where he wrote the manual for aerial photo interpretation, and worked as an interpreter of aerial photographs before joining the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

as a Lieutenant and continued his interpretation work for the Naval Photo Intelligence School. His team were at one point responsible for interpreting success of bombing raids in Germany. After the war ended, he accepted an Associate Professor position at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, but after the first semester he was recalled to active duty to assist in Operation Highjump, a US Navy project to establish a research station in Antarctica, as the sole qualified photo interpreter. Roscoe was a member of the initial landing party, which discovered the previously set up base from 1939. The Navy and Marine Corps used

Douglas R4D-8 The Douglas R4D-8 (later redesignated C-117D) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3S (Super DC-3) airliner. It was used by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and Vietna ...

aircraft for aerial photography. On the way back from the expedition, Roscoe was named as the envoy to the Prime Minister of New Zealand by

Admiral Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

, and was given a tour of New Zealand. After the conclusion of Operation Highjump he left the Marine Corps and joined Navy Intelligence as a civilian. He returned to Antarctica to work on

, mapping points of which the exact latitude, longitude and, elevation were known and also interpreting aerial photos. In 1951 he published a Biography of Antarctica, then in the following year he earned a doctorate from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. He also contributed to the planning of

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

and resigned from civil service around 1957. During his service in the Navy he worked very closely with Admiral

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

from the beginning of Operation Highjump to Byrd's death in 1957.

Private life

Following his departure from Navy Intelligence, Roscoe was offered a position at the

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...

, where he designed the photographic system for the first American satellite. He retired from Lockheed in 1982. He served as the vice-president of the

American Polar Society The American Polar Society was founded in 1934 by August Howard. Honorary members Starting in 1936 the following explorers, arctic scientists and geographers have been honored: * David Legge Brainard (1936). He was the first to receive an honorary ...

from 1957 to at least 2002. Roscoe also performed some research on the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

after retiring.

References

1919 births 2007 deaths Flushing High School alumni People from Syracuse, New York Syracuse University alumni University System of Maryland alumni {{US-academic-bio-stub