John Elliott (Jack) Nafe (July 22, 1914 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

– April 6, 1996) was an American

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 ...

and

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 ...

best known for his work on acoustic propagation in the oceans and solid earth. Born in Seattle, Nafe received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1938. He then served in the

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

, leaving to begin graduate studies at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. He obtained an MS degree in 1940 and then joined the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which he taught physics and engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy. Returning to graduate studies 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 ...

after the war, he worked with I.I. Rabi on a celebrated experiment that determined the magnetic moment of the hydrogen atom. He received his Ph.D. in 1948. Nafe was for three years a faculty member at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, after which he returned to Columbia's Lamont Geological Observatory, where he began to study the acoustic properties of the oceans as they are affected by temperature, salinity, and pressure. For the U.S. Navy, he worked on a listening system for detecting submerged submarines at long distances. Nafe's acoustical research later turned to the solid earth, where he was among the first to develop an accurate relation between density and seismic velocity, allowing inferences about the structure of the Earth. Nafe was chair of Columbia's geology department from 1962 to 1965. He suffered a severe stroke in 1976 and retired to Vancouver in 1980.

References

*Robert J. Nelson
"John Elliott Nafe (1914-1996)"
Eos, Vol. 77, No. 29, July 16, 1996 *Jack E. Oliver
"Memorial to John Elliott Nafe 1914–1996"
*Charles L. Drake
"OBITUARIES: John Elliott Nafe"
Physics Today, August, 1996, p. 79. *Wolfgang Saxon

New York Times, April 14, 1996. 1914 births 1996 deaths American oceanographers American geophysicists University of Michigan alumni University of Minnesota faculty Columbia University faculty Marine geophysicists Columbia University alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni {{geoscientist-stub