John Tuzo Wilson

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John Tuzo Wilson

John Tuzo Wilson in 1992

In office

1983–1986

Preceded by

John S. Proctor

Succeeded by

2nd

In office

1968–1974

Preceded by

Succeeded by

Personal details

Born

October 24, 1908

, Ontario, Canada

Died

April 15, 1993

(aged 84)

, Ontario, Canada

Education

(

)

(BA,

)

(

)

Known for

Theory of

Scientific career

Awards

Officer,

Companion, Order of

Canada

Fellow,

London

Fellow,

Canada Centennial Medal

125th Anniversary Medal

(Canada)

(1975)

Fields

Institutions

(1936)

William Taylor Thom, Jr

Doctoral

students

John Tuzo Wilson

(October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian

and professor at the

who

achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of

. He added the concept of

, a volcanic region hotter than

the surrounding

(as in the

). He also conceived of the

, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other

horizontally (

e.g.,

the

His name was given to two young Canadian

called the

The

of seabed expansion and contraction

(associated with the

) bears his name. One of the two

was given the name Tuzo after him, the

other being named Jason after

, who furthered Wilson's work

into

Wilson served as the second

at the University of

Toronto from 1968 to 1974.

Early life and education

[

]

Wilson was born in

on October 24, 1908, the son of

, and his wife, Henrietta Tuzo.

Wilson's father was of

descent and his mother was a third-generation Canadian of French descent.

He became one of the first people in Canada to receive a degree in

graduating from

at the

in 1930.

obtained a second (BA) degree from

in 1932 and

then a doctorate (ScD). He then pursued further graduate studies as

, where he received a

in geology in 1936 after completing a

doctoral dissertation titled "The Geology of the Mill Creek – Stillwater Area,

Career

[

]

In 1936, Wilson joined the

as a government

geologist. This was interrupted by the

during which he served

with the

, serving in Europe and reaching the rank of

Colonel. He was involved in

For his wartime service, he

was appointed an

In 1946 he was appointed the first Professor of Geophysics at the

He made significant contributions to the theory of

, adding a

concept of

, hot region beneath the crust. Plate tectonics is the

that the rigid outer layers of the Earth (

and part of

the

), the

, is broken up into around 13 pieces or

"plates" that move independently over the weaker

. Wilson

maintained that the

were created as a tectonic plate

(extending across much of the

) shifted to the northwest over a

fixed hot spot, spawning a long series of

. He also conceived of the

, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other

horizontally (

e.g.,

the

The

of seabed expansion and contraction (associated with the

) bears his name, in recognition of his iconic

observation that the present-day

appears along a former suture

zone

and his development in a classic 1968 paper

of what was later named

the "Wilson cycle" in 1975 by

, a colleague and friend of

Wilson.

His name was given to two young Canadian

called the

Wilson was president (1957–1960) of the

(IUGG).

In 1968 he became the second campus principal of the University of Toronto's

Erindale College, now known as the

. Wilson

is perhaps the most notable of UTM's principals, as his time in office

influenced the early development of the campus, which was formally established

in 1967. In 1974 he left to become the Director General of the

and passed the role of principal to

. In 1983 he

became Chancellor of

He was the host of the television series

The Planet of Man

Honours and awards

[

]

For his service during the Second World War, Wilson was appointed an

1946. In 1969, he was made an Officer of the

and was promoted to the rank of Companion of that order

in 1974.

He was elected to the

in 1971 and the

in 1971.

Wilson was awarded the

from the

, of which he

was already a member,

in 1975.

In 1978, he was awarded the

of the

and a Gold Medal by the

. He also served as honorary vice president of the RCGS.

He was a Fellow of the

, the

, and of the

He was elected president-elect (1978–1980) and president (1980–1982) of the American Geophysical Union. He also

served as the director general of the

from 1974 to 1985.

Wilson and his plate tectonic theory are commemorated on the grounds of the Centre by a giant "immovable" spike that

records the amount of plate movement since Wilson's birth.

The

of the

recognizes achievements in geophysics. He is also

commemorated by a named memorial professorship and an eponymous annual public lecture delivered at the

. The J. Tuzo Wilson Research Wing of the

at the

named in his honour.

He is one of the 2016 inductees into

Personal life

[

]

Photography

[

]

Wilson was an avid traveller and took a large number of photographs during his travels to many destinations, including

European countries, parts of the then USSR, China, the southern Pacific, Africa, and to both polar regions.

Although

many of his photos are geological—details of rocks and their structures or panoramas of large formations—the bulk of

his photos are of the places, activities and people that he saw on his travels: landscapes, city views, monuments,

sites, instruments, vehicles, flora and fauna, occupations and people.

Family

[

]

In 1938 he married Isabel Jean Dickson.

He retired in 1986 and died in

on April 15, 1993.

Selected publications

[

]

One Chinese Moon

(1959)

Wilson, Tuzo (July 14, 1962). "Cabot Fault, An Appalachian Equivalent of the San Andreas and Great Glen Faults and

some Implications for Continental Displacement".

Nature

195

(4837):

135–

138.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (February 9, 1963). "Evidence from Islands on the Spreading of Ocean Floors".

Nature

197

(4867):

536–

538.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (1963).

(PDF)

Canadian Journal of Physics

(6):

863–

870.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (July 24, 1965). "A new Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift".

Nature

207

(4995):

343–

347.

Vine, F. J.; Wilson, J. Tuzo (October 22, 1965). "Magnetic Anomalies over a Young Oceanic Ridge off Vancouver

Island".

Science

150

(3695):

485–

Wilson, J. Tuzo (August 13, 1966).

Nature

211

(5050):

676–

681.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (1966). "Are the structures of the Caribbean and Scotia arc regions analogous to ice rafting?".

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

(5):

335–

338.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (December 1968). "A Revolution in Earth Science".

Geotimes

(10). Washington DC:

10–

16.

Wilson, J. Tuzo (1971). "Du Toit, Alexander Logie".

Dictionary of Scientific Biography

. Vol. 4. pp.

261–

263.