Kingsley Dunham
Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham
Early life
Dunham was born in Sturminster Newton, Dorset and moved at an early age with his family to Durham. He attended the Durham Johnston School (then a Grammar School) and then won a Foundation Scholarship to Hatfield College, Durham, graduating with a first-class degree in Geology in 1930 at a time when Arthur Holmes was professor.[2]
A gifted musician, Dunham was
Career
Dunham studied at
Dunham returned to Durham University in 1950 as Professor of Geology. During his tenure he supervised the drilling of the Rookhope borehole discovering, as predicted by his colleague Martin Bott, the presence of a concealed granite underlying the Pennines.[4] He was created a Fellow of St John's College, Durham.
In 1967, his career culminated in accepting the directorship of the British Geological Survey, and like his time at Durham, he successfully guided that institution through a period of rapid growth into areas such as geophysics, oceanography and geochemistry. He was knighted in 1972.[2]
Following retirement in 1975, Dunham again returned to Durham as
Honours
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Kingsley Dunham received many honours. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1955 (and also served on its council) and received its Royal Medal in 1970. He was President of the Yorkshire Geological Society between 1958–59, and was awarded the Sorby Medal of that Society in 1963.
In 1973, he gave the presidential address to the
Between 1990 and 2012, the British Geological Survey's headquarters complex, in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, was named the Kingsley Dunham Centre in his honour. (It is now the Environmental Science Centre.) The relocation and consolidation of the BGS's various, disparate branches to the Keyworth site was one of the lasting legacies of Dunham's time as Director. The Centre opened in 1976, shortly after Dunham's retirement.
Later life
In his later years his eyesight failed him until he was totally blind. However, he still attended the weekly Durham meetings (aided by his friend and colleague Dr Tony Johnson), held by the Arthur Holmes society.
Dunham's son, Ansel, who predeceased him, was Professor of Geology at the University of Hull and the University of Leicester.
References
- .
- ^ required.)
- hdl:1842/12183. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ Geology: Granite in the North Pennines Archived 8 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, pastperfect.org.uk. Accessed 9 January 2023.
- The New Scientist.