Harry Hammond Hess#Harry H. Hess Medal

Harry Hammond Hess was born on May 24, 1906, in New York City to Julian S. Hess, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and Elizabeth Engel Hess. He attended Asbury Park High School in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In 1923, he entered Yale University, where he intended to study electrical engineering but ended up graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. Hess failed his first time taking mineralogy at Yale and was told he had no future in the field.{{Cite web |title=Harry Hess: One of the Discoverers of Seafloor Spreading |url=https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/earth-inside-and-out/harry-hess-one-of-the-discoverers-of-seafloor-spreading |access-date=November 13, 2023 |website=American Museum of Natural History}} Despite this, he continued with his degree and was teaching geology at Princeton when World War II was declared.{{Cite web |title=Harry Hess: One of the Discoverers of Seafloor Spreading |url=https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/earth-inside-and-out/harry-hess-one-of-the-discoverers-of-seafloor-spreading |archive-date= |access-date=November 13, 2023 |website=American Museum of Natural History}} He spent two years as an exploration geologist in Northern Rhodesia. In 1934 he married Annette Burns.Menard, Henry William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=obv_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 The Ocean of Truth: A Personal History of Global Tectonics], p. 108. Accessed June 5, 2020. "In 1923 Harry went from Asbury Park High School in New Jersey to Yale, where he initially majored in electrical engineering."

Harry Hess taught for one year (1932–1933) at Rutgers University in New Jersey and spent a year as a research associate at the Geophysical Laboratory of Washington, D. C., before joining the faculty of Princeton University in 1934. Hess remained at Princeton for the rest of his career and served as Geology Department Chairman from 1950 to 1966. He was a visiting professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1949–1950), and the University of Cambridge, England (1965).

Hess accompanied Dr. Felix Vening Meinesz of Utrecht University on board the US Navy submarine USS S-48 to assist with the second U.S. expedition to obtain gravity measurements at sea. The expedition used a gravimeter, or gravity meter, designed by Meinesz.{{cite book| last =Duncan| first =Francis| title =Rickover: The Struggle for Excellence| publisher =Naval Institute Press| date =2012| isbn =978-1591142218}} The submarine traveled a route from Guantanamo, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, and return to Guantanamo through the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos region from 5 February through 25 March 1932. The description of operations and results of the expedition were published by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office in The Navy-Princeton gravity expedition to the West Indies in 1932.{{cite book|author=Collins, Elmer Beauchamp|author2=Hess, Harry Hammond|author3=Brown, Thomas Townsend|author-link3=Thomas Townsend Brown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ0JAQAAIAAJ| title=The Navy-Princeton Gravity Expedition to the West Indies in 1932 | year=1933 | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office }}{{cite web|url=http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!210409!0 |title=The Navy-Princeton gravity expedition to the West Indies in 1932 (catalog entry)|website=Smithsonian Institution Research Information System}}

Hess joined the United States Navy during World War II, becoming captain of the USS Cape Johnson, an attack transport ship equipped with a new technology: sonar. This command would later prove to be key in Hess's development of his theory of sea floor spreading. Hess carefully tracked his travel routes to Pacific Ocean landings on the Marianas, Philippines, and Iwo Jima, continuously using his ship's echo sounder. This unplanned wartime scientific surveying enabled Hess to collect ocean floor profiles across the North Pacific Ocean, resulting in the discovery of flat-topped submarine volcanoes, which he termed guyots, after the 19th-century geographer Arnold Henry Guyot. After the war, he remained in the Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of rear admiral.

In 1960, Hess made his single most important contribution, which is regarded as part of the major advance in geologic science of the 20th century. In a widely circulated report to the Office of Naval Research, he advanced the theory, now generally accepted, that the Earth's crust moved laterally away from long, volcanically active oceanic ridges. He only understood his ocean floor profiles across the North Pacific Ocean after Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen (1953, Lamont Group) discovered the Great Global Rift, running along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.{{Cite journal |title=Seismic-refraction measurements in the Atlantic Ocean basins, in the Mediterranean Sea, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and in the Norwegian Sea |first1=John |last1=Ewing |first2=Maurice |last2=Ewing |author-link2=Maurice Ewing |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1959)70[291:SMITAO]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |date=March 1959 |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=291–318 |bibcode = 1959GSAB...70..291E }}{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1060-98 |last=Heezen |first=B. C. |year=1960 |title=The rift in the ocean floor |journal=Scientific American |volume=203 |pages=98–110 |issue=4|bibcode=1960SciAm.203d..98H }} Seafloor spreading, as the process was later named, helped establish Alfred Wegener's earlier (but generally dismissed at the time) concept of continental drift as scientifically respectable. This triggered a revolution in the earth sciences.{{Cite journal |first=J. Tuzo |last=Wilson |date= December 1968 |title=A Revolution in Earth Science |journal=Geotimes |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=10–16 |place=Washington DC}} Hess's report was formally published in his [http://repositories.cdlib.org/sio/lib/23 History of Ocean Basins] (1962),{{Cite book |first=H. H. |last=Hess | chapter-url=http://www.mantleplumes.org/WebDocuments/Hess1962.pdf |chapter=History of Ocean Basins |date=November 1, 1962 |title=Petrologic studies: a volume in honor of A. F. Buddington |editor=A. E. J. Engel |editor2=Harold L. James |editor3=B. F. Leonard |place=Boulder, CO |publisher=Geological Society of America |pages=599–620 }} which for a time was the single most referenced work in solid-earth geophysics.{{cite book |chapter=In Appreciation of Harry Hammond Hess by Scott McVay |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxlbAAAAYAAJ&q=harry+hammond+hess%2C+blair+professor&pg=PA10 |title=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=October 28, 1969 |pages=10–11, 16–17 |publisher=Princeton University Press }} Hess was also involved in many other scientific endeavours, including the Mohole project (1957–1966), an investigation onto the feasibility and techniques of deep sea drilling.

Hess was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1952 and the American Philosophical Society in 1960.{{Cite web |title=Harry Hess |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001102.html |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=www.nasonline.org}}{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Harry+Hammond+Hess&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}} He was president of The Geological Society of America in 1963 and received their Penrose Medal in 1966.Eckel, Edwin (1982) Geological Society of America – Life History of a Learned Society, Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, page 168, {{ISBN|0-8137-1155-X}}. In 1968, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.{{Cite web |title=Harry Hammond Hess |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/harry-hammond-hess |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}

File:ANCExplorer Harry Hammond Hess grave.jpg

Hess died from a heart attack in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1969, while chairing a meeting of the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery and was posthumously awarded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Distinguished Public Service Award.

The American Geophysical Union established the Harry H. Hess medal in his memory in 1984 to "honor outstanding achievements in research of the constitution and evolution of Earth and sister planets."{{cite web|url=http://www.agu.org/about/honors/union/hess/|title=Harry H. Hess Medal|publisher=American Geophysical Union|access-date=12 December 2009|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606132223/http://www.agu.org/about/honors/union/hess/|url-status=dead}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=p1Bs03rhZzwC&dq=Harry+H.+Hess+Medal&pg=PA209 "Hess, Harry Hammond]. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. New York Academy of Sciences, Timothy M. Kusky.[https://books.google.com/books?id=vMk4t21fOvoC&dq=Harry+H.+Hess+Medal&pg=PA375 "Hess, Harry"], Encyclopedia of Earth and Space Science, p. 375.

Source:{{cite web | url=https://www.agu.org/Honor-and-Recognize/Honors/Union-Medals/Harry-H-Hess-Medal | title=Harry H. Hess Medal | publisher=American Geophysical Union | access-date=29 August 2020}}

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• 1985 Gerald J. Wasserburg
• 1987 Julian R. Goldsmith
• 1989 A.G.W. Cameron
• 1991 George W. Wetherill
• 1993 Alfred E. Ringwood
• 1995 Edward Anders
• 1996 Thomas J. Ahrens{{Cite web |url=http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sue/TJA_LindhurstLabWebsite/ListPublications/Papers_pdf/Seismo_1881.pdf |title=Seismo_1881 |access-date=2015-12-23 |archive-date=2010-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707234818/http://www.gps.caltech.edu/%7esue/TJA_LindhurstLabWebsite/ListPublications/Papers_pdf/Seismo_1881.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• 1997 Stanley Robert Hart
• 1998 David J. Stevenson
• 1999 Ikuo Kushiro
• 2001 Albrecht Hofmann
• 2002 Gerald Schubert
• 2003 David L. Kohlstedt
• 2004 Adolphe Nicolas
• 2005 Sean C. Solomon
• 2006 Alexandra Navrotsky
• 2007 Michael John O'Hara[https://www.gl.ciw.edu/news/2007/1/6/michael-john-ohara-was-awarded-2007-harry-h-hess-medal "Michael John O'Hara was Awarded the 2007 Harry H. Hess Medal"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224104136/https://www.gl.ciw.edu/news/2007/1/6/michael-john-ohara-was-awarded-2007-harry-h-hess-medal |date=2015-12-24 }}. ciw.edu.{{cite journal|doi=10.1029/2008EO040003 | bibcode=2008EOSTr..89...31N | volume=89 | title=O'Hara Receives 2007 Harry H. Hess Medal | journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union | page=31 | last1 = Niu | first1 = Yaoling| year=2008 | issue=4 | doi-access=free }}
• 2008 H. Jay Melosh
• 2009 Frank M. Richter
• 2010 David Walker[http://eesc.columbia.edu/news-events/news/professor-david-walker-awarded-harry-h-hess-medal "Professor David Walker Awarded Harry H. Hess Medal | Earth and Environmental Sciences"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224053006/http://eesc.columbia.edu/news-events/news/professor-david-walker-awarded-harry-h-hess-medal |date=2015-12-24 }}. columbia.edu.
• 2011 Henry Dick
• 2012 Maria T. Zuber[http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/nlsi-scientists-receive-career-awards/ "NLSI Scientists Receive Career Awards"]. nasa.gov.
• 2013 Bernard Wood[http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/news_events/news/department_news/congratulations_to_prof_bernie_wood_on_being_awarded_the_harry_h_hess_medal_of_the_american_geophysical_union. "Congratulations to Prof Bernie Wood on being awarded the Harry H Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union. – University of Oxford Department of Earth Sciences"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919171828/http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/news_events/news/department_news/congratulations_to_prof_bernie_wood_on_being_awarded_the_harry_h_hess_medal_of_the_american_geophysical_union. |date=2013-09-19 }}. ox.ac.uk.
• 2014 Donald J. DePaolo
• 2015 Claude Jaupart{{Cite web |url=https://honors.agu.org/winners/claude-p-jaupart/ |title=Claude P. Jaupart | |website=honors.agu.org}}
• 2016 Alexander Halliday{{Cite web|url=https://eos.org/agu-news/alex-halliday-receives-2016-harry-h-hess-medal|title = Alex Halliday Receives 2016 Harry H. Hess Medal|date = 23 December 2016}}
• 2017 Roberta Rudnick{{Cite web |url=http://news.agu.org/press-release/american-geophysical-union-announces-recipients-of-the-2017-union-medals-awards-and-prizes/ |title = American Geophysical Union Announces Recipients of the 2017 Union Medals, Awards and Prizes |website=news.agu.org}}
• 2018 Timothy L. Grove{{Cite web |url=https://eos.org/agu-news/timothy-l-grove-receives-2018-harry-h-hess-medal |title = Timothy L. Grove Receives 2018 Harry H. Hess Medal |website=eos.org |date = 27 December 2018}}
• 2019 Richard J. Walker
• 2020 Donald B. Dingwell{{Cite web |url=https://eos.org/agu-news/announcing-the-2020-agu-union-medal-award-and-prize-recipients |title=Announcing the 2020 AGU Union Medal, Award, and Prize Recipientsv|website=eos.org |date=11 November 2020}}
• 2021 Peter B. Kelemen
• 2022 Janne Blichert-Toft
• 2023 Catherine A. McCammon

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• {{Cite journal |doi=10.2475/ajs.244.11.772 |last=Hess |first=H.H. |year=1946 |title=Drowned ancient islands of the Pacific basin |journal=Am. J. Sci. |volume=244 |pages=772–91 |issue=11 |bibcode=1946AmJS..244..772H |doi-access=free }}
• Also in:
• {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1947 |title=Drowned ancient islands of the Pacific basin |journal=International Hydrographic Review |volume=24 |pages=81–91 | url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/ihr/article/view/27359 }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1948 |title=Drowned ancient islands of the Pacific basin |journal=Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report for 1947 |pages=281–300 }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Hess |first1=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1953 |last2=Maxwell |first2=J. C. |chapter=Major structural features of the south-west Pacific: a preliminary interpretation of H. O. 5484, bathymetric chart, New Guinea to New Zealand. |title=Proceedings of the 7th Pacific Science Congress: Held at Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand, 1949 |pages=14–17 |place=Wellington |publisher=Harry H. Tombs, Ltd |volume=2 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1954 |chapter=Geological hypotheses and the Earth's crust under the oceans |title=A Discussion on the Floor of the Atlantic Ocean |pages=341–48 |series=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A |volume=222 |issue=1150 |publisher=The Royal Society |jstor=99224 }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1955 |title=The oceanic crust |journal=Journal of Marine Research |volume=14 |pages=423–39 }}
• {{Cite conference |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1955 |title=Serpentines, orogeny and epeirogeny |book-title=Crust of the Earth |editor=A. W. Poldervaart |pages=391–407 |series=Geological Society of America, Special Paper No. 62 (Symposium) |place=New York |publisher=The Society |doi=10.1130/SPE62-p391 }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1959 |title=The AMSOC hole to the Earth's mantle |journal=Transactions of the American Geophysical Union |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=340–345 |doi=10.1029/tr040i004p00340|bibcode = 1959TrAGU..40..340H }}
• Also in:
• {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=H.H. |year=1960 |title=The AMSOC hole to the Earth's mantle |journal=American Scientist |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=254–263 |jstor=27827541 }}
• {{Cite conference |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1960 |title=Nature of great oceanic ridges |book-title=Preprints of the 1st International Oceanographic Congress (New York, August 31-September 12, 1959) |pages=33–34 |place=Washington |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science. (A)}}
• {{Cite Report |last=Hess |first=H.H. |author-mask=2 |year=1960 |title=Evolution of ocean basins |series=Report to Office of Naval Research. Contract No. 1858(10), NR 081-067 |pages=38 }}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=James |first=Harold L. |title=Harry Hammond Hess (1906–1969) |year=1973 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |place=Washington DC|url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/hess-harry.pdf}}

• [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bohess.html Harry Hess (1906–1969) A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041211052236/http://etc.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/hess_harry.html Harry Hammond Hess Biography] taken from {{cite book | author=Leitch, Alexander | title=A Princeton Companion | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=1978 | isbn=0-691-04654-9}}
• [https://www.agu.org/Honor-and-Recognize/Honors/Union-Medals/Harry-H-Hess-Medal AGU Harry H. Hess Medal]

{{Presidents of the Geological Society of America}}

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Category:American geophysicists

Category:Asbury Park High School alumni

Category:Tectonicists

Category:Scientists from New York City

Category:United States Navy rear admirals (upper half)

Category:1906 births

Category:1969 deaths

Category:Academic staff of the University of Cape Town

Category:Yale University alumni

Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery

Category:Penrose Medal winners

Category:Princeton University faculty

Category:Rutgers University faculty

Category:Presidents of the Geological Society of America

Category:Marine geophysicists

Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society