David W. Simpson
May 2014 Honorary Degree Recipient
Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)
David William Simpson has been described as the 鈥渆pitome of a scientist whose skills serve global society鈥� and a mentor who has motivated and supported new generations of scientists.
Dr. Simpson was born and raised in Halifax and completed his Bachelor and Master鈥檚 degrees in Physics at 麻豆传媒 before completing his PhD in Geophysics at the Australian National University. Early in his career, Dr. Simpson spent time in the Soviet Union studying earthquakes, where he learned to speak Russian. He spent almost 20 years at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, where he was Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director for Seismology, Geology and Tectonophysics. In 1991, he became President of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, or IRIS. IRIS is a consortium of 120 U.S. universities with research programs in seismology, 28 Educational Affiliates and 110 Foreign Affiliates.
As a seismologist, Dr. Simpson has targeted the problem of earthquake prediction, and studied the effect of human activity, such as dam and reservoir construction, on earthquake activity. It is not an overstatement to say that IRIS is the world鈥檚 leading source of seismological data, and a leader in educating the public about earthquakes and seismology, roles the organization has expanded and fulfilled exceptionally under Dr. Simpson鈥檚 leadership. He has had a significant impact on studies monitoring seismic events worldwide and discriminating between earthquakes and nuclear explosions.
Dr. Simpson has served in an advisory role to numerous government agencies, and been a member of a number of national committees, panels and delegations. He is the author of more than 60 papers in scientific journals and books. His accomplishments have been recognized with two significant honours: the Medal of the Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth from the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1995, and in 2012, the Waldo E. Smith Medal of the American Geophysical Union.