Charles Swithinbank: glaciologist

Abstract

AbstractThis is the second in a series of biographies entitled ‘Children of the Golden Age,’ the purpose of which is to describe the background and contributions of significant living figures in polar research who began their scientific careers in the years following World War II. Born on 17 November 1926 in Burma, Charles Winthrop Molesworth Swithinbank attended Bryanston School in Dorset before joining the Royal Navy in 1944. He read geography at the University of Oxford and was named assistant glaciologist for the Norwegian-British-Swedish Expedition (1949–52). After completing his DPhil, he joined the Scott Polar Research Institute, where he studied ice distribution in the Northwest Passage. Moving to the University of Michigan (1959–63), he led three expeditions to the Ross Ice Shelf before becoming the first British exchange scientist with the Soviet Antarctic Expedition (1963–65). Returning to the Scott Polar Research Institute, he developed a glaciological programme that led to his appointment as chief glaciologist of the British Antarctic Survey. He became head of the Earth Sciences Division in 1974, a post he held until his retirement in 1986. Swithinbank's contributions to Antarctic science include studies of the deformation, flow, and thickness of glaciers and the interpretation of satellite imagery. He served as president of the International Glaciological Society (1981–84) and has received a number of honours and awards.