Terris Moore (April 11, 1908 – November 7, 1993) was an explorer,

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, light plane pilot, and the second president of the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university in College, Alaska, United States, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was e ...

Early years and education

Moore attended schools in Haddonfield, Philadelphia and New York, and was a graduate of

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in Massachusetts. He then received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

and the degree of Doctor of Commercial Science from the

Harvard School of Business Administration Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which publishes business books, leadership ...

. He taught at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

for two years, then returned to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to author textbooks on taxes and work as a financial consultant.

Early career

Moore's career as a mountaineer started early, with an ascent of

Chimborazo Chimborazo () is a stratovolcano situated in Ecuador in the Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador), Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known Types of volcanic eruptions, eruption is believed to have occurred around AD 550. Although not ...

and the first ascent of

Sangay Sangay (also known as Macas, Sanagay, or Sangai) is an Volcano#Active, active stratovolcano in central Ecuador. It exhibits mostly Strombolian eruption, strombolian activity. Geologically, Sangay marks the southern boundary of the Northern Volc ...

, both in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, in 1927. In the early 1930s, he made the first ascents of

Mount Bona Mount Bona is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Mountains in eastern Alaska, and is the fifth-highest independent peak in the United States. It is either the tenth- or eleventh-highest peak in North America. Mount Bona and its adjace ...

and

Mount Fairweather Mount Fairweather (or ''Tsalxaan'' in the Tlingit language) is a mountain located east of the Pacific Ocean on the Canada–United States border. With an elevation of , it is the tallest mountain in British Columbia and the seventh-tallest mou ...

, both major Alaskan peaks, with Allen Carpé, and he also made the first unguided ascent of

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

Most famous climb

These ascents led to his most famous climb, the first ascent (with Richard Burdsall) of

Minya Konka Mount Gongga (), also known as Minya Konka (Khams Tibetan: , Khams Tibetan pinyin: ''Mi'nyâg Gong'ga Riwo'') and colloquially as "The King of Sichuan Mountains", is the highest mountain in Sichuan province, China. It has an elevation of above ...

, a peak in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Their small party (also including Arthur Emmons and Jack Young) also carefully surveyed the peak and settled a controversy about its height. In making the ascent the summit pair climbed thousands of feet higher than any other Americans had previously.

Consultant and other work

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 ...

Moore served as a consultant to the U.S. military on arctic and mountain conditions, and as a member of the Alaskan Test Expedition in 1942. In that capacity he made the third ascent of

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

. After the war, he was president of the New England Society of Natural History, which was deeply enmeshed with the

Boston Museum of Science The Museum of Science (MoS) is a nature and science museum and indoor zoological establishment located in Science Park, a plot of land in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, spanning the Charles River. Along with over 7 ...

, headed by

Bradford Washburn Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. (June 7, 1910 – January 10, 2007) was an American explorer, mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer. He established the Boston Museum of Science, served as its director from 1939–1980, and from 1985 until his ...

, also a noted climber of Alaskan peaks. Moore served three years as the president of the University of Alaska, starting in 1949, and during that time he also established records for high-altitude airplane landings. Moore Residence Hall, which along with Bartlett Hall are two 8-story buildings anchoring the upper dorm complex on the Fairbanks campus, was named for him. Student radio station

KSUA KSUA (91.5 FM) is a student-run college radio station licensed to Fairbanks, Alaska. Broadcasting from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) campus with 3,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP,) it serves the Alaska Interior area. When fi ...

has its transmitter and tower atop Moore Hall.

References

* Robert H. Bates, "Terris Moore", ''

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's ...

'', 1994, pp. 317–319. * R. Burdsall, T. Moore, A. Emmons, and J. Young, ''Men Against The Clouds'' (revised edition), The Mountaineers, 1980. 1908 births 1993 deaths American mountain climbers Williams College alumni Harvard Business School alumni People from Haddonfield, New Jersey Leaders of the University of Alaska Fairbanks United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics {{Explorer-stub