Rudolf Trümpy (16 August 1921 – 30 January 2009)
was a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
, who was born in the small Swiss town of
Glarus
Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.[ETH Zürich
ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...]
in the late 1940s with a thesis titled: “Der Lias der Glarner Alpen”. From 1947 to 1953 he spent his post-doctoral years in
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
before being appointed professor at ETH Zürich in 1953. He would remain there until 1986.
His research mainly concentrated on
alpine geology. However, he also published papers on extra-alpine regions like
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
, the
Montagne Noire
The Montagne Noire (; , known as the 'Black Mountain' in English) is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central at the juncture of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments. Its highe ...
and the
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. He was the author of the reference book ''Geology of Switzerland''.
Trümpy is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the
Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology and the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London, the oldest geological society in the world. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. I ...
and the
Penrose Medal.
In 1978 he was elected a Foreign Associate of the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
.
He is also a member of the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
.
Many stratigraphic formations in the western Alps were first described by Trümpy. For example, the
Couches de l’Aroley, the
Couches des Marmontains and the
Couches de St Cristoph.
References
1921 births
2009 deaths
Wollaston Medal winners
Penrose Medal winners
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
ETH Zurich alumni
Academic staff of ETH Zurich
People from the canton of Glarus
20th-century Swiss geologists
Gustav-Steinmann-Medaille winners
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