Thomas Neville George FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

LLD (13 May 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a Welsh geologist. He was president 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 ...

Life

Thomas Neville George was born in the

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes ref ...

district of

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, the son of Thomas Rupert George, a schoolmaster and ardent socialist, and his wife, Elizabeth Evans, also a teacher. He was educated at Swansea Municipal Secondary School and Swansea Grammar School. He won a place at the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

graduating BSc in 1924 and MSc in 1926. He then went to

Cambridge University , 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 ...

to study at postgraduate level gaining a doctorate (PhD) in 1928. From 1930 to 1933 he worked as a geologist for

HM Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS hea ...

. In 1933 he gained a professorship at

University College, Swansea Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

, teaching both Geology and Geography. In 1947

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

gave him a professorship. He stayed in this post until retiral in 1974, serving as Dean of the Faculty of Science 1951 to 1955. In 1948 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Sir A. E. Trueman, John Weir,

Murray MacGregor George Murray Macgregor FRSE (21 January 1884 – 21 January 1966) was a Scottish geologist. He was described as "Scotland's most eminent coalfield geologist." Life Macgregor was born in Glasgow to Agnes Murray and George Macgregor. He studied a ...

, Sir

Charles Maurice Yonge Sir Charles Maurice Yonge, CBE, FRS FRSE (9 December 1899 – 17 March 1986) was an English marine zoologist. Life Charles Maurice Yonge was born in Silcoates School near Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1899 the son of John Arthur Yonge (1865-194 ...

and

Arthur Holmes Arthur Holmes (14 January 1890 – 20 September 1965) was an English geologist who made two major contributions to the understanding of geology. He pioneered the use of radiometric dating of minerals, and was the first earth scientist to grasp ...

. He served as Vice President of the Society 1959 to 1961 and won their

Neill Prize The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

for the period 1975-77. In 1963 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London 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 ...

and in the same year was awarded the

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 ...

by the

. The University of

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

gave him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1956. The University of Wales gave him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1970. George was president of the Geological Society of London from 1968 to 1970. He died in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 18 June 1980.

Publications

*''South Wales'' (1970)

Family

In 1932 he married Sarah Hannah Davies. They had no children.

References

20th-century British geologists Fellows of the Royal Society 1904 births 1980 deaths Lyell Medal winners {{UK-geologist-stub