The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by 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 ...

. The medal is named after

William Hyde Wollaston William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingot ...

, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), then

palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

, a metal discovered by Wollaston (1846–1860). Next in gold again (1861–1929) and then in palladium again (1930–present).

Laureates

Sourc
Geological Society

1831–1850

*1831 William 'Strata' Smith *1835

Gideon Mantell Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS (3 February 1790 – 10 November 1852) was a British obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of ''Iguanodon'' began the scientific study of dinosaurs: in ...

*1836 Louis Agassiz *1837

Proby Thomas Cautley Sir Proby Thomas Cautley, KCB (3 January 1802 – 25 January 1871), English engineer and palaeontologist, born in Stratford St Mary, Suffolk, is best known for conceiving and supervising the construction of the Ganges canal during East Ind ...

*1837

Hugh Falconer Hugh Falconer MD FRS (29 February 1808 – 31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma,and most of the Mediterranean islands a ...

*1838 Richard Owen *1839

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. Ehrenberg was an Evangelicalism, evangelist and was considered to ...

*1840

André Hubert Dumont André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

*1841

Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart () FRS FRSE FGS (14 January 1801 – 18 February 1876) was a French botanist. He was the son of the geologist Alexandre Brongniart and grandson of the architect, Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart. Brongniart's pioneeri ...

*1842

Leopold von Buch Christian Leopold von Buch (26 April 1774 – 4 March 1853), usually cited as Leopold von Buch, was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe an der Oder (now a part of Angermünde, Brandenburg) and is remembered as one of the most im ...

*1843

Jean-Baptiste Élie de Beaumont Jean-Baptiste Armand Louis Léonce Élie de Beaumont (25 September 1798 – 21 September 1874) was a French geologist. Biography Élie de Beaumont was born at Canon, in Calvados. He was educated at the Lycee Henri IV where he took the fir ...

*1843 Pierre Armand Dufrenoy *1844 William Conybeare *1845 John Phillips *1846

William Lonsdale William Lonsdale (9 September 1794 in Bath, Somerset, Bath11 November 1871 in Bristol), English geologist and palaeontologist, won the Wollaston Medal, Wollaston medal in 1846 for his research on the various kinds of fossil corals. Biography H ...

*1847

Ami Boué Ami Boué (16 March 179421 November 1881) was a geologist of French Huguenot origin. Born at Hamburg he trained in Edinburgh and across Europe. He travelled across Europe, studying geology, as well as ethnology, and is considered to be among th ...

*1848

William Buckland William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...

*1849

Joseph Prestwich Sir Joseph Prestwich, FRS (12 March 1812 – 23 June 1896) was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes of ancient flint tools in the Somme vall ...

*1850

William Hopkins William Hopkins FRS (2 February 179313 October 1866) was an English mathematician and geologist. He is famous as a private tutor of aspiring undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, earning him the ''sobriquet'' the " senior-wrangler maker." ...

1851–1900

*1851 Adam Sedgwick *1852

William Henry Fitton William Henry Fitton (24 January 178013 May 1861) was an Irish physician and amateur geologist. Biography Fitton was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College in that city. He gained the senior scholarship in 1798, and graduated in the fol ...

*1853

Adolphe d'Archiac Étienne Jules Adolphe Desmier de Saint-Simon, Vicomte d'Archiac (24 September 180224 December 1868) was a French geologist and paleontologist. Early life He was born at Reims and educated at the Military School of St. Cyr. He served for nine yea ...

*1853

Édouard de Verneuil Philippe Édouard Poulletier de Verneuil (13 February 180529 May 1873) was a French paleontology, paleontologist.Richard John Griffith Sir Richard John Griffith Bt. FRS FRSE FGS LLD (20 September 1784 – 22 September 1878), was an Irish geologist, mining engineer and chairman of the Board of Works of Ireland, who completed the first complete geological map of Ireland and was ...

*1855

Henry De la Beche Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche KCB, FRS (10 February 179613 April 1855) was an English geologist and palaeontologist, the first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, who helped pioneer early geological survey methods. He was the ...

*1856

William Edmond Logan Sir William Edmond Logan, FRSE FRS FGS (20 April 1798 – 22 June 1875), was a Canadian-born geologist and the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Life William Edmond Logan was born into a well-to-do Montreal family ...

*1857

Joachim Barrande Joachim Barrande (11 August 1799 – 5 October 1883) was a French geologist and palaeontologist. Career Barrande was born at Saugues, Haute Loire, and educated in the École Polytechnique and École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées at Paris. A ...

*1858

Hermann von Meyer Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer (3 September 1801 – 2 April 1869), known as Hermann von Meyer, was a German palaeontologist. He was awarded the 1858 Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London. Life He was born at Frankfurt am Ma ...

*1859

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

*1860

Searles Valentine Wood Searles Valentine Wood (February 14, 1798 – October 26, 1880) was an English palaeontologist. Life Wood went to sea in 1811 as a midshipman in the British East India Company's service, which he left in 1826. He then settled at Hasketon near Woo ...

*1861 Heinrich Georg Bronn *1862 Robert Alfred Cloyne Godwin-Austen *1863

Gustav Bischof Karl Gustav Bischof (January 18, 1792 – November 30, 1870) was a German chemist, born in Nuremberg. He studied at Erlangen where he became a university lecturer ("Privatdozent") in 1815. In 1819 he was appointed to the position of an extra-O ...

*1864 Roderick Murchison *1865 Thomas Davidson *1866 Charles Lyell *1867

George Poulett Scrope George Julius Poulett Scrope FRS (10 March 1797 – 19 January 1876) was an English geologist and political economist as well as a Member of Parliament and magistrate for Stroud in Gloucestershire. While an undergraduate at Cambridge, th ...

*1868

Carl Friedrich Naumann Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann (30 May 1797 – 26 November 1873), also known as Karl Friedrich Naumann, was a German mineralogist and geologist. The crater Naumann on the Moon is named after him. Life Naumann was born at Dresden, the s ...

*1869

Henry Clifton Sorby Henry Clifton Sorby (10 May 1826 – 9 March 1908) was an English microscopist and geologist. His major contribution was the development of techniques for studying iron and steel with microscopes. This paved the way for the mass production of st ...

*1870

Gérard Paul Deshayes Gérard Paul Deshayes (; 13 May 1795 – 9 June 1875) was a French geologist and conchologist. Career He was born in Nancy, his father at that time being professor of experimental physics in the École Centrale of the département Meurthe He s ...

*1871 Andrew Ramsay *1872

James Dwight Dana James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...

*1873

Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, 10th Baronet FRS (13 November 1806 – 5 April 1881) was an English palaeontologist and Conservative politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons variously between 1830 and his death in 1 ...

*1874

Oswald Heer Oswald Heer (or Oswald von Heer) (31 August 1809 – 27 September 1883), Swiss geologist and naturalist, was born at Niederuzwil in Canton of St. Gallen and died in Lausanne. Biography Oswald Heer was educated as a clergyman at Halle an ...

*1875

Laurent-Guillaume de Koninck Laurent-Guillaume de Koninck (3 May 1809 – 16 July 1887) was a Belgian palaeontologist and chemist, born at Leuven. He studied medicine in the university of his native town, and in 1831 he became assistant in the chemical schools. He pu ...

*1876

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...

*1877

Robert Mallet Robert Mallet (3 June 1810 – 5 November 1881) was an Irish geophysicist, civil engineer, and inventor who distinguished himself in research on earthquakes and is sometimes called the father of seismology. His son, Frederick Richard Mallet was ...

*1878 Thomas Wright *1879

Bernhard Studer Prof Bernhard Studer HFRSE (August 21, 1794May 2, 1887), was a 19th-century Swiss geologist. Biography He was born at Buren an der Aare near Bern in Switzerland on 21 August 1794. He was educated to become a clergyman, but his interests later ...

*1880 Auguste Daubrée *1881

Peter Martin Duncan Peter Martin Duncan FRS (20 April 1821 – 28 May 1891) was an English palaeontologist. Biography Duncan was born at Twickenham on 20 April 1821, his father, Peter King-Duncan, a descendant of an old Scottish family, being a leather merchant ...

*1882

Franz Ritter von Hauer Franz Ritter von Hauer, or Franz von Hauer (January 30, 1822 – March 20, 1899), was an Austrian geologist. Biography Hauer was born in Vienna, the son of Joseph von Hauer (1778-1863), who was equally distinguished as a high Austrian offic ...

*1883

William Thomas Blanford William Thomas Blanford (7 October 183223 June 1905) was an English geologist and naturalist. He is best remembered as the editor of a major series on '' The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma''. Biography Blanford was born ...

*1884 Albert Jean Gaudry *1885

George Busk George Busk FRS FRAI (12 August 1807 – 10 August 1886) was a British naval surgeon, zoologist and palaeontologist. Early life, family and education Busk was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the son of the merchant Robert Busk and his ...

*1886

Alfred Des Cloizeaux Alfred Louis Olivier Legrand Des Cloizeaux (17 October 18176 May 1897) was a French mineralogist. Des Cloizeaux was born at Beauvais, in the department of Oise. He studied with Jean-Baptiste Biot at the Collège de France. He became professor of ...

*1887

John Whitaker Hulke John Whitaker Hulke FRCS FRS FGS (6 November 1830 – 19 February 1895) was a British surgeon, geologist and fossil collector. He was the son of a physician in Deal, who became a Huxleyite despite being deeply religious. Hulke became Huxley's ...

*1888

Henry Benedict Medlicott Henry Benedict Medlicott, FRS (3 August 1829 – 6 April 1905) was an Irish geologist who worked in India. He was a coauthor of a text on the geology of India and is credited with the coining of the term "Gondwana" which was later used to create ...

*1889

Thomas George Bonney Thomas George Bonney (27 July 1833 – 10 December 1923) was an English geologist, president of the Geological Society of London. Career Bonney was born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Bonney, headma ...

*1890 William Crawford Williamson *1891 John Wesley Judd *1892 Ferdinand von Richthofen *1893

Nevil Story Maskelyne Mervyn Herbert Nevil Story Maskelyne (3 September 1823 – 20 May 1911) was an English geologist and politician. Scientific career Educated at Wadham College, Oxford, Maskelyne taught mineralogy and chemistry at Oxford from 1851, before becom ...

*1894

Karl Alfred von Zittel Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German palaeontologist best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880). Biography Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the Grand Duchy o ...

*1895

Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...

*1896

Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 - 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and t ...

*1897

Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston FRS (né Simpson) (2 June 1828 – 29 January 1909) was an English geologist, ornithologist and paleontologist. Life Hudleston was born at York on 2 June 1828. He was the eldest son of John Simpson of Knaresborough ( ...

*1898

Ferdinand Zirkel Prof Ferdinand Zirkel Royal Society of London, FRS(For) HFRSE (20 May 183811 June 1912) was a German geologist and petrography, petrographer. Biography Zirkel was born in Bonn. Educated in his native town, he graduated PhD from the University o ...

*1899

Charles Lapworth Charles Lapworth FRS FGS (20 September 1842 – 13 March 1920) was a headteacher and an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordovician period. Biography Charles Lapworth was born at Faring ...

*1900 Grove Karl Gilbert

1901–1950

*1901

Charles Barrois Charles Eugene Barrois (21 August 18515 November 1939) was a French geologist and palaeontologist. Life Barrois was born at Lille and educated at the Jesuit College of St Joseph in that town, where he studied geology under Professor Jules Goss ...

*1902

Friedrich Schmidt Carl Friedrich Schmidt may refer to: * Carl Friedrich Schmidt (artist) (1811–1890), German botanical artist and lithographer * Carl Friedrich Schmidt (geologist) Carl Friedrich Schmidt (russian: Фёдор Богданович Шмидт, Fyo ...

*1903

Heinrich Rosenbusch (Karl) Heinrich/Harry (Ferdinand) Rosenbusch (24 June 1836 – 20 January 1914) was a German petrographer. Harry Rosenbusch was born in Einbeck. He taught at Heidelberg University (1877–1908), where he founded the ''Mineralogisches-geologisc ...

*1904 Albert Heim *1905

Jethro Teall Sir Jethro Justinian Harris Teall FRS HFRSE PGS (5 January 1849 – 2 July 1924) was a British geologist and petrographist. Teallite is named after him. Life He was born to Jethro Teall of Sandwich, Kent (1816-1848) and his wife, Mary Hath ...

*1906 Henry Woodward *1907

William Johnson Sollas Prof William Johnson Sollas PGS FRS FRSE LLD (30 May 1849 – 20 October 1936) was a British geologist and anthropologist. After studying at the City of London School, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Mines he matriculat ...

*1908

Paul Heinrich von Groth Paul Heinrich Ritter von Groth (23 June 1843 – 2 December 1927) was a German mineralogist. His most important contribution to science was his systematic classification of minerals based on their chemical compositions and crystal structures. Bi ...

*1909

Horace Bolingbroke Woodward Horace Bolingbroke Woodward , (20 August 1848 – 6 February 1914) was a British geologist who participated in the Geological Survey of England and Wales from 1867 until his retirement in 1908. He was vice-president of the Geological Society, wh ...

*1910

William Berryman Scott William Berryman Scott (February 12, 1858 – March 29, 1947) was an American vertebrate paleontologist, authority on mammals, and principal author of the White River Oligocene monographs. He was a professor of geology and paleontology at P ...

*1911 Waldemar Christofer Brøgger *1912

Lazarus Fletcher Sir Lazarus Fletcher (3 March 1854 – 6 January 1921) was a British geologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1889 and won the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society in 1912. Fletcher was knighted in 1916. Fletcher was Keep ...

*1913 Osmond Fisher *1914

John Edward Marr John Edward Marr FGS FRS (14 June 1857 – 1 October 1933) was a British geologist. After studying at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he matriculated to St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with First Class Honours in 1878. Following under ...

*1915

Edgeworth David Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David (28 January 1858 – 28 August 1934) was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter ...

*1916

Alexander Karpinsky Alexander Petrovich Karpinsky (russian: Александр Петрович Карпинский, trl. Aljeksandr Pjetrovič Karpinskij; 7 January 1847 ( NS) – 15 July 1936) was a prominent Russian and Soviet geologist and mineralogist, and ...

*1917

Alfred Lacroix Antoine François Alfred Lacroix (4 February 186312 March 1948) was a French mineralogist and geologist. He was born in Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire. Education Lacroix completed a D. s Sc. in Paris in 1889, as student of Ferdinand André Fouqué. F ...

*1918

Charles Doolittle Walcott Charles Doolittle Walcott (March 31, 1850February 9, 1927) was an American paleontologist, administrator of the Smithsonian Institution from 1907 to 1927, and director of the United States Geological Survey. Wonderful Life (book) by Stephen Jay G ...

*1919

Aubrey Strahan Sir Aubrey Strahan KBE FRS (20 April 1852 – 4 March 1928) was a British geologist. He was elected FRS in 1903. He was Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain from 1914–1920. He won the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of ...

*1920

Gerard De Geer Baron Gerard Jacob De Geer (20 November 1858 – 24 July 1943) was a Swedish geologist who made significant contributions to Quaternary geology, particularly geomorphology and geochronology. De Geer is best known for his work on varves. In 1890 D ...

*1921

Ben Peach Benjamin Neeve Peach (6 September 1842 – 29 January 1926) was a British geologist. Life Peach was born at Gorran Haven in Cornwall on 6 September 1842 to Jemima Mabson and Charles William Peach, an amateur British naturalist and geologist ...

*1921

John Horne John Horne PRSE FRS FRSE FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1915 to 1919. Life Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in Campsie, Stirlingshire, the ...

*1922

Alfred Harker Alfred Harker FRS (19 February 1859 – 28 July 1939) was an English geologist who specialised in petrology and interpretive petrography. He was Lecturer in Petrology at the University of Cambridge for many years, and carried out field mapping ...

*1923 William Whitaker *1924

Arthur Smith Woodward Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, FRS (23 May 1864 – 2 September 1944) was an English palaeontologist, known as a world expert in fossil fish. He also described the Piltdown Man fossils, which were later determined to be fraudulent. He is not relate ...

*1925 George William Lamplugh *1926

Henry Fairfield Osborn Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 years and a cofounder of the American Euge ...

*1927 William Whitehead Watts *1928

Dukinfield Henry Scott Dr Dukinfield Henry Scott FRS HFRSE LLD (28 November 1854 – 29 January 1934) was a British botanist. Biography Scott was born in London on 28 November 1854, the fifth and youngest son of architect Sir George Gilbert Scott and his wife Caro ...

*1929

Friedrich Johann Karl Becke Friedrich Johann Karl Becke (31 December 1855, in Prague – 18 June 1931, in Vienna) was an Austrian mineralogist and petrographer. Biography After studying at the University of Vienna, where he specialized in the natural sciences, he became the ...

*1930

Albert Seward Sir Albert Charles Seward FRS (9 October 1863 – 11 April 1941) was a British botanist and geologist. Life Seward was born in Lancaster. His first education was at Lancaster Grammar School and he then went on to St John's College, Cambrid ...

*1931

Arthur William Rogers Arthur William Rogers (5 June 1872 in Bishops Hull near Taunton, Somerset – 23 June 1946 in Mowbray, Cape Town, Cape Province) was a British and South African geologist. He was Director of the Geological Survey of South Africa. Career Rogers st ...

*1932 Johan Herman Lie Vogt *1933

Marcellin Boule Pierre-Marcellin Boule (1 January 1861 – 4 July 1942), better known as merely Marcellin Boule, was a French palaeontologist, geologist, and anthropologist. Early life and education Pierre-Marcellin Boule was born in Montsalvy, France. Care ...

*1934

Henry Alexander Miers Sir Henry Alexander Miers, FRS (25 May 1858 – 10 December 1942) was a British mineralogist and crystallographer. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the ...

*1935 John Flett *1936 Gustaaf Adolf Frederik Molengraaff *1937

Waldemar Lindgren Waldemar Lindgren (February 14, 1860 – November 3, 1939) was a Swedish-American geologist. Lindgren was one of the founders of modern economic geology. Biography Waldemar Lindgren was born in Vassmolösa, Kalmar Municipality, in the historica ...

*1938

Maurice Lugeon Maurice Lugeon FRS(For) HFRSE FGS (10 July 1870 – 23 October 1953) was a Swiss geologist, and the pioneer of nappe tectonics. He was a pupil of Eugène Renevier. Named for Maurice Lugeon, the lugeon is a measure of transmissivity in rocks ...

*1939

Frank Dawson Adams Frank Dawson Adams (September 17, 1859 – December 26, 1942) was a Canadian geologist. Early life and education Frank Dawson Adams was born into a prosperous, middle-class family in Montreal, Quebec. Adams attended the High School of Montr ...

*1940 Henry Woods *1941 Arthur Louis Day *1942

Reginald Aldworth Daly Reginald Aldworth Daly (March 18, 1871 – September 19, 1957) was a Canadian geologist. Biography Reginald Daly was educated at the University of Toronto, where geologist A.P. Coleman persuaded him away from teaching mathematics and into Earth S ...

*1943

Alexander Fersman Alexander Evgenyevich Fersman (; 8 November 1883 – 20 May 1945) was a prominent Soviet Russian geochemist and mineralogist, and a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1919–1945). Early life and education Fersman was born in St. Peter ...

*1944

Victor Goldschmidt Victor Moritz Goldschmidt (27 January 1888 in Zürich – 20 March 1947 in Oslo) was a Norwegian mineralogist considered (together with Vladimir Vernadsky) to be the founder of modern geochemistry and crystal chemistry, developer of the Golds ...

*1945

Owen Thomas Jones Owen Thomas Jones, FRS FGS (16 April 1878 – 5 May 1967) was a Welsh geologist. Education He was born in Beulah, near Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire, the only son of David Jones and Margaret Thomas. He attended the local village school in Trewen ...

*1946

Emmanuel de Margerie Emmanuel Marie Pierre Martin Jacquin de Margerie ForMemRS (11 November 1862 – 20 December 1953) was a French geographer after whom the Margerie Glacier was named, which he visited in 1913. Awards and honours Margerie was awarded the Cullum Geo ...

*1947

Joseph Tyrrell Joseph Burr Tyrrell, FRSC (November 1, 1858 – August 26, 1957) was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur (''Albertosaurus sarcophagus'') bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 188 ...

*1948

Edward Battersby Bailey Sir Edward Battersby Bailey FRS FRSE MC CB LLD (1 July 1881 – 19 March 1965) was an English geologist. Life Bailey was born in Marden, Kent, the son of Dr James Battersby Bailey and Louise Florence Carr. He was educated at Kendal grammar ...

*1949

Robert Broom Robert Broom FRS FRSE (30 November 1866 6 April 1951) was a British- South African doctor and palaeontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow. From 1903 to 1910, he ...

*1950 Norman L. Bowen

1951–2000

*1951

Olaf Holtedahl Prof Olaf Holtedahl ForMemRS FRSE (24 June 1885 – 26 August 1975) was a Norwegian geologist (Dr.philos., 1913). He became a senior lecturer at the University of Oslo in 1914, and was Professor of Geology there from 1920 to 1956. Career ...

*1952

Herbert Harold Read Herbert Harold Read FRS, FRSE, FGS, (17 December 1889, in Whitstable – 29 March 1970) was a British geologist and Professor of Geology at Imperial College. From 1947-1948 he was president of the Geological Society. Life He was born at W ...

*1953

Erik Stensiö Prof Erik Helge Osvald Stensiö HFRSE (2 October 1891 – 11 January 1984) was a Swedish paleozoologist. He later took his new surname from his place of origin and is occasionally referred to with both names (as Erik Andersson Stensiö, Erik ...

*1954

Leonard Johnston Wills Professor Leonard Johnston Wills (1884–1979) – known as 'Jack' to friends and family – was one of the leading British geologists of his generation. He held the Chair of Geology at the University of Birmingham from 1932 to 1949, and received m ...

*1955 Arthur Elijah Trueman *1956

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 ...

*1957 Paul Fourmarier *1958

Pentti Eskola Pentti Elias Eskola (8 January 1883 – 6 December 1964) was a Finnish geologist who specialised in the petrology of granites and developed the concept of metamorphic facies. He won the Wollaston Medal in 1958, the Vetlesen Prize in 1964, a ...

*1959

Pierre Pruvost Pierre Eugène Marie Joseph Pruvost (1 August 1890 – 5 June 1967) was a French geologist who worked as a professor of geology at the University of Lille. He was a specialist on the fossil fauna and flora of the coal basins of Europe. Life and ...

*1960

Cecil Edgar Tilley Cecil Edgar Tilley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HonFRSE Geological Society, PGS (14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973) was an Australian-UK, British petrologist and geologist. Life He was born in Unley, Adelaide, the youngest child of John Thoma ...

*1961 Roman Kozłowski *1962

Leonard Hawkes Leonard Hawkes FRS (6 August 1891 – 29 October 1981) was a British geologist. Awarded the Murchison Medal in 1946 and the Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological So ...

*1963

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz Felix Andries Vening Meinesz (30 July 1887 – 10 August 1966) was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist. He is known for his invention of a precise method for measuring gravity (gravimetry). Thanks to his invention, it became possible to measure g ...

*1964

Harold Jeffreys Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British mathematician, statistician, geophysicist, and astronomer. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival ...

*1965

D. M. S. Watson Prof David Meredith Seares Watson FRS FGS HFRSE LLD (18 June 1886 – 23 July 1973) was the Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at University College, London from 1921 to 1951. Biography Early life Watson was born in the Highe ...

*1966

Francis Parker Shepard Francis Parker Shepard (10 May 1897 – 25 April 1985) was an American sedimentologist most associated with his studies of submarine canyons and seafloor currents around continental shelves and slopes. Early life and education Shepard was bo ...

*1967 Edward Crisp Bullard *1968

Raymond Cecil Moore Raymond Cecil Moore (February 20, 1892, Roslyn, Washington – April 16, 1974, Lawrence, Kansas) was an American geologist and paleontologist.Daniel F. Merriam (2007), "Raymond Cecil Moore: Legendary Scholar and Scientist, World-Class Geologist ...

*1969 William Maurice Ewing *1970 Philip Henry Kuenen *1971

Ralph Alger Bagnold Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, OBE, FRS, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was an English 20th-century desert explorer, geologist and soldier. In 1932, he staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the Libyan Desert. His work in the ...

*1972

Hans Ramberg Hans Ramberg (15 March 1917 – 7 June 1998) was a Norwegian- Swedish 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 t ...

*1973

Alfred Sherwood Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ...

*1974 Francis J. Pettijohn *1975 Hollis Dow Hedberg *1976

Kingsley Charles Dunham Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (2 January 1910 – 5 April 2001) was one of the leading British geologists and mineralogists of the 20th century. He was a Professor of Geology at the University of Durham from 1950–71. He was later Professor Emeri ...

*1977

Reinout Willem van Bemmelen Reinout Willem van Bemmelen, also known as Rein van Bemmelen, (14 April 1904 Batavia, Dutch East Indies – 19 November 1983 Unterpirkach, Austria) was a Dutch geologist whose interests were structural geology, economic geology and volcanology. ...

*1978

John Tuzo Wilson John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. ''Plate tectonics'' is the scientific theory that the rigi ...

*1979 Hatton Schuyler Yoder *1980 Augusto Gansser *1981

Robert Minard Garrels Robert Minard Garrels (August 24, 1916 – March 8, 1988) was an American geochemist. Garrels applied experimental physical chemistry data and techniques to geology and geochemistry problems. The book ''Solutions, Minerals, and Equilibria'' co-auth ...

*1982

Peter John Wyllie Peter John Wyllie (born 8 February 1930, in London, England) is a British petrologist and academic. He was Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology from 1983 until his retirement in 1999. Prior to this, he held positions at ...

*1983 Dan Peter McKenzie *1984 Kenneth J. Hsu *1985 Gerald Joseph Wasserburg *1986

John G. Ramsay John Graham Ramsay (17 June 1931 – 12 January 2021) was a British structural geologist who was a professor at Imperial College London, the University of Leeds and the University of Zurich. Career Born in suburban London in 1931, John Graham ...

*1987 Claude Jean Allègre *1988

Alfred Ringwood Alfred Edward "Ted" Ringwood FRS FAA (19 April 1930 – 12 November 1993) was an Australian experimental geophysicist and geochemist, and the 1988 recipient of the Wollaston Medal. The mineral ringwoodite is named after him. Early life and st ...

*1989 Drummond Hoyle Matthews *1990

Wallace S. 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 ...

*1991

Xavier Le Pichon Xavier Le Pichon (born 18 June 1937 in Qui Nhơn, French protectorate of Annam (after South Vietnam and today Vietnam) is a French geophysicist. Among many other contributions, he is known for his comprehensive model of plate tectonics (1968), ...

*1992 Martin Harold Phillips Bott *1993 Samuel Epstein *1994 William Jason Morgan *1995

George P. L. Walker George Patrick Leonard Walker (2 March 1926 – 17 January 2005) was a British geologist who began his career studying mineralogy and later made significant contributions to volcanology. He was widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern ...

*1996 Nicholas John Shackleton *1997

Douglas James Shearman Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

*1998 Karl Karekin Turekian *1999

John Frederick Dewey John Frederick Dewey FRS (born 22 May 1937) is a British structural geologist and a strong proponent of the theory of plate tectonics, building upon the early work undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s. He is widely regarded as an authority on th ...

*2000 William Sefton Fyfe

2001–

*2001

Harry Blackmore Whittington Harry Blackmore Whittington FRS (24 March 1916 – 20 June 2010) was a British palaeontologist who made a major contribution to the study of fossils of the Burgess Shale and other Cambrian fauna. His works are largely responsible for the conce ...

*2002 Rudolf Trümpy *2003 Ikuo Kushiro *2004 Geoffrey Eglinton *2005

Ted Irving Edward A. "Ted" Irving, (27 May 1927 – 25 February 2014) was a geologist and scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada. His studies of paleomagnetism provided the first physical evidence of the theory of continental drift. His effort ...

*2006

James Lovelock James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating sys ...

*2007 Andrew Knoll *2008

Norman Sleep Norman H. Sleep (born 14 February 1945) is an American geophysicist and professor of geophysics at Stanford University. He has done internationally recognized research on plate tectonics and many other areas of geology and planetology. Education ...

*2009 Paul F. Hoffman *2010 Richard H. Sibson *2011

Robert Stephen John Sparks Sir Robert Stephen John Sparks, (born 15 May 1949), is Chaning Wills Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. He is one of the world's leading volcanologists and has been widely recognised for his w ...

*2012

Christopher Hawkesworth Christopher John Hawkesworth FRS FRSE (born 18 December 1947) is a British earth scientist, and former Deputy Principal and Vice-Principal for Research, at University of St Andrews. Biography Hawkesworth was born in Khartoum, Sudan on 18 Dece ...

*2013

Kurt Lambeck Professor Kurt Lambeck AC, FRS, FAA, FRSN (born 20 September 1941 in Utrecht, Netherlands) is Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. He has also taught at University of Paris and at Smithsonian a ...

*2014

Maureen Raymo Maureen E. "Mo" Raymo (born 1959) is an American paleoclimatologist and marine geologist. She is the Co-Founding Dean of the Columbia Climate School, Director of the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, the G. Unger Vetle ...

- first woman to receive the Wollaston Medal *2015

James A. Jackson James Anthony Jackson Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (born 12 December 1954) is Professor of Tectonics, Active Tectonics and head of Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge Department of ...

*2016 Susan L. Brantley *2017 Richard Alley *2018 Terry Plank *2019

Edward Stolper Edward Manin Stolper (born December 16, 1952) is an American geologist, petrologist, and planetologist. He is known for his research on igneous rocks (terrestrial and extraterrestrial) and volatiles in igneous processes, especially his research i ...

*2020 Barbara Romanowicz *2021 David D. Pollard *2022

Tanya Atwater Tanya Atwater (born 1942) is an American geophysicist and marine geologist who specializes in plate tectonics. She is particularly renowned for her early research on the plate tectonic history of western North America. Early life and education At ...

References

External links

List of Wollaston Medal Winners
{{Geological Society of London Geology awards Palladium Awards established in 1831 Geological Society of London British science and technology awards