Herbert Leader Hawkins FRS (1887 – 29 December 1968) was a British geologist. 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 ...

in 1940. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, exempted from

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

conditional upon continuing his then work. Hawkins spent his entire academic career at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, after first being appointed Acting Part Time Lecturer in Geology in 1909. He was appointed Professor of Geology in 1920, and oversaw the expansion of the department over the next few decades. Among those staff he appointed was

Lawrence Wager Lawrence Rickard Wager, commonly known as Bill Wager, (5 February 1904 – 20 November 1965) was a British geologist, explorer and mountaineer, described as "one of the finest geological thinkers of his generation"Vincent and best remembered for ...

, in 1929. It was from Reading that Wager completed his work on both

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

and

Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...

for which he was later celebrated. In 1937, Hawkins was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, for his distinguished work on the

Echinoidea Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

(sea urchins), and his textbook on 'Invertebrate Palaeontology' (Methuen, 1920) which was 'much esteemed and illustrates his broad and philosophical outlook'. His nomination notes that 'He would have published more if not engaged in building up a new Department, from two students in 1920 to 61 in 1932'. In his biographical notes,

Percival Allen Percival Allen FRS (15 March 1917 – 3 April 2008) was a British geologist. Served as Professor and Head of Department at Reading from 1952 and became an Emeritus Professor on his retirement in 1982. He was awarded an honorary DSc in 1992. ...

notes that Hawkins was 'Loved by many utknown to few'; and that while by the early 1920's Hawkins was 'poised for a major work on the whole

, fossil and living' it was not to be, and 'many influences conspired to thwart him'.

References

20th-century British geologists British conscientious objectors Fellows of the Royal Society 1887 births 1968 deaths Lyell Medal winners Presidents of the Geologists' Association {{UK-geologist-stub