Oceanographer: Erwing William Maurice

EWING, WILLIAM MAURICE (1906-1974). William Maurice Ewing, geophysicist and oceanographer, was born on May 12, 1906, in Lockney, Texas, the son of Floyd Ford and Hope (Hamilton) Ewing. He received three degrees from Rice Institute (now Rice University)-a B.A. in 1926, an M.A. in 1927, and a Ph.D. in 1931. He taught physics at the University of Pittsburgh (1929-30); physics, geology, and geophysics at Lehigh University (1930-44); and geology at Columbia University (1944-72). While on leave …

…on May 4, 1974, at John Sealy Hospitalqv in Galveston and was buried at Palisades, New York. He was awarded posthumously, in the fall of 1974, the Penrose Medal, highest honor of the Geological Society of America. In 1976 the Geophysics Laboratory of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute was renamed Maurice Ewing Hall. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Texas, 1973. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Who's Who in America, 1968-69.