Graham Michael "Mike" Purdy is a British

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

and

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

who specializes in marine seismology. He retired as the Executive Vice President for Research at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

on 1 January 2020. Previously, he was the Director of Columbia's

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a research, research institution specializing in the Earth science and climate change. Though part of Columbia University, it is located on a separate closed campus in Palisades, New York. The obs ...

(LDEO). Currently, he is a Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Education

Purdy received a B.S. with honors in 1969 and an M.S. in 1970 from

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, then received a PhD in marine geophysics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1974.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

After leaving Cambridge, Purdy joined WHOI in 1974 as a Post Doctoral Scholar. In 1991, he became Chairman of the Department of Geology and Geophysics (G&G), a position he held until leaving WHOI in 1995 for the NSF.

National Science Foundation

From 1995 to 2000, Purdy served as the Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences in the Geosciences Directorate of the NSF. He oversaw a breadth of research activities, including the international

Ocean Drilling Program The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) was part of an international project to explore and study the composition and structure of Earth's oceanic basins. This collaborative effort spanned multiple decades and produced comprehensive data that improved un ...

and the foundation-wide Life in Extreme Environments (LExEn) initiative, which he established in 199

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory

At LDEO, Purdy has worked to further the department's role in The Earth Institute, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, an inter-departmental research institute founded in 1995 to address the complex social, economic, and environmental implications of the earth sciences. LDEO is the largest component of this alliance, and Purdy has taken an interest in interdisciplinary approaches to the traditional earth science work of the department. For example, he began the Director’s Series on the Science of Diversity, bringing researchers in the social sciences to LDEO to speak on issues such as gender differences in scientific research productivity. He has dedicated particular attention to the problem of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, particularly as highlighted by the work of fellow LDEO scientist

Wally Broecker Wallace "Wally" Smith Broecker (November 29, 1931 – February 18, 2019) was an American geochemist. He was the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, a scientist at Columbia's Lamont–D ...

Awards and honors

*Maurice Ewing Medal (

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

), 2006

References

External links

LDEO home pageEarth Institute home page

LDEO "Letter from the Director"ISI Highly-Cited Researcher PageQuickTime video of Purdy discussing the "need for a global perspective in science research and training" from The Earth Institute
http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/library/videos2001-03.html] {{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, G. Michael Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British expatriate academics in the United States British oceanographers British geophysicists Alumni of Imperial College London Columbia University faculty Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Marine geophysicists