Scripps Geophysicist Elected Fellow of Royal Society

By Kim McDonald I June 13, 2005

Thomas Guy Masters, professor of geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Thomas Guy Masters, professor of geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom's national academy of science.

Masters is associated with Scripps' Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP). Masters was elected "for his work in seismology including proof that there is a difference in chemical make-up of the solid inner and liquid outer cores of the Earth." The society futher notes that Masters "is distinguished for his work in seismology, and has pioneered many new techniques for analysing seismic data, using them to produce Earth models for all the seismic parameters."

"These new Fellows of the Royal Society are among the best scientists in the UK and Commonwealth," said Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society. "In being elected to the Fellowship they follow in the footsteps of the august scientists of the last three and a half centuries."

Masters received his bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of Manchester and his Ph.D. in 1979 from the University of Cambridge. He has been associated with Scripps since 1979.

His research focuses on analysis of the large-scale structure of the earth and its crust, mantle, and core; development of reference earth models; and the integration of mineral physics, geodynamics, and geochemistry into seismological models.

Masters is also fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the American Geophysical Union, and a member of the Seismological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Four other Scripps scientists have previously been named fellows of the Royal Society: Professor of Nuclear Physics Devendra Lal, Research Professor of Geophysics, Emeritus, Walter Munk, IGPP Director Robert Parker, and Professor of Geophysics John Sclater.

Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is the world's oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Fellows are eminent scientists who are elected by peer review for life. There are currently approximately 1,300 fellows and foreign members, including more than 65 Nobel laureates. Past fellows include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.