Academic background
BSc, PhD and DSc in Geology from the University of Birmingham. Research primarily in the fields of glaciology and glacial geology. Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland’s national academy). Honorary Life Fellow of the International Union for Quaternary Research. Awards for science include the Kirk Bryan Award of the Geological Society of America, Seligman Crystal of the International Glaciological Society, Lyell Medal of the Geological Society, Founders Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, Croll Medal of the Quaternary Research Association, UK Polar Medal, Commandeur de de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French Government, and honorary degrees from the Universities of Heidelberg, Chalmers (Sweden), Birmingham and Keele.
Past and current positions
- Metal Box Company – 1962
- Geological Survey of Great Britain 1963-64
- Demonstrator in Geology, University of Keele 1964-65
- Research Fellow in Geology, University of Birmingham 1965-68
- Hydrogeologist – Kenya Department of Water Supply 1968
- Lecturer/Reader, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia 1969-80
- Professor of Geoscience, University of Amsterdam 1980-86
- Regius Professor of Geology, University of Edinburgh (sequentially Head of Geology and Geophysics – Provost and Dean of Science and Engineering – Vice Principal of the University) 1986-2008
- Regius Professor Emeritus 2008-