American Philosophical Society
Member History

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International (1)
Resident (1)
Subdivision
105. Physical Earth Sciences[X]
1Name:  Dr. Richard M. Goody
 Institution:  Harvard University
 Year Elected:  1997
 Class:  1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences
 Subdivision:  105. Physical Earth Sciences
 Residency:  Resident
 Living? :   Deceased
 Birth Date:  1921
 Death Date:  August 3, 2023
   
 
Richard M. Goody died on August 3, 2023 at Broadmead, a continuing care retirement community, in Cockeysville, MD. He was 102 years old. Richard Goody was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England on June 19, 1921. He and his family immigrated to the United States in 1958 and became US citizens in 1965. He is survived by his daughter, Brigid Goody. His wife, Elfriede Goody, and his brother, Jack Goody, preceded him in death. Dr. Goody attended Cambridge University from which he received a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1942. After military service during World War II, he returned to Cambridge to receive his PhD in 1949. He studied radioactive transfer in planetary atmospheres. In 1958, he was appointed as Professor of Dynamic Meteorology and Director of the Blue Hill Observatory at Harvard. He remained at Harvard until his retirement in 1991 as Mallinckrodt and Gordon McKay Professor Emeritus. Dr. Goody's fundamental contributions to geophysics began in 1949 with his work at Cambridge University, England, on the understanding of the structure of stratosphere in which radiative processes play the dominant role in its thermal equilibrium state. This study led him to pursue infrared radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres and the manner in which simplified methodologies can be developed for effective calculations of radiative heating in the atmosphere. Dr. Goody was the first scientist to recognize the potential of using emission spectra for the quantitative measurement of ozone and nitrous oxide, long before the role of these gases in global warming was a fundamental concern. Following his appointment as Abbott Lawrence Rotch Professor of Dynamic Meteorology and Director of the Blue Hill Observatory at Harvard University in 1958, Dr. Goody became the prime academic force in building the Earth and planetary physics program there. He continued research on a number of fundamental programs involving infrared radiation transfer and produced a classic book, Atmospheric radiation: I, Theoretical basis, which he published in 1964. In 1970 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, playing an important role in the geophysics section of the Academy. He also played a key role in the U.S. exploration program on the atmospheres of other planets, principally Mars and Venus. His many important contributions included interpretation of spectroscopy data for the understanding and determination of the planetary compositions and dynamic processes, as well as the instrument design for space probes. In 1982 Dr. Goody, along with two of his colleagues, spearheaded a program referred to as 'Global Habitability' to examine the factors affecting the Earth's ability to sustain life, principally through biogeochemical cycles and climate. He could accurately be described as "the grandfather of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program." Among his many awards are the Buchan Prize of the Royal Meteorological Society (1958); the 50th Anniversary Medal (1970) and the Cleveland Abbe Award (1977) of the American Meteorological Society, 1970; NASA's Public Service Medal (1980); the William Bowie Medal (1998) of the American Geophysical Union; and the Gold Medal (2004) of the International Radiation Commission. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1997.
 
2Name:  Dr. Claudio Vita-Finzi
 Institution:  Natural History Museum, London
 Year Elected:  1997
 Class:  1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences
 Subdivision:  105. Physical Earth Sciences
 Residency:  International
 Living? :   Living
 Birth Date:  1936
   
 
Claudio Vita-Finzi is a Scientific Associate at London’s Natural History Museum. Educated in Argentina and the UK, he received his PhD and ScD from Cambridge University. He held a personal chair in Neotectonics at University College London between 1988 and 2001 before moving to the Department of Mineralogy at the Museum. Dr Vita-Finzi has worked on geological chronologies in a wide variety of settings as a means of elucidating the underlying processes. His studies of river deposits in the Mediterranean and the Near East revealed the great changes in the natural landscape of Eurasia that have occurred in the last two millennia. He went on to analyse fault history and the buckling of lithospheric plates in Greece, the Near East, SE Asia and South America, and the role of impacts in the evolution of Venus. His current studies focus on the hydrologic effects of changes in the UV component of solar luminosity. Dr Vita-Finzi is the author of numerous papers on geochronology, tectonics, fluvial geology and geoarchaeology. His books include The Mediterranean Valleys (1969), Recent Earth History (1973), Archaeological Sites in their Setting (1978), Recent Earth Movements (1986), Monitoring the Earth (2002), Planetary Geology (2005), The Sun - a User’s Guide (2008), and A History of the Solar System (2016). He received the G K Warren Prize of the National Academy of Sciences in 1994 and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1997. In 2012 he was elected to the British Academy.
 
Election Year
1997[X]