Turner, Mortimer

Born in 1920 in Greeley, Colorado, Mortimer Darling Turner earned his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and his doctorate from the University of Kansas. Turner was a prominent polar geologist who helped open the Antarctic frontier to geological exploration through his work at the National Science Foundation. Turner joined NSF in 1959 to help run its Antarctic research program. While there, he helped set up and oversee its polar earth sciences branch, using the position to finance and lead projects that made groundbreaking geological and paleontological discoveries in Antarctica. In 1968, Turner oversaw a drilling project that penetrated the Antarctic ice sheet and reached its base for the first time. His projects allowed scientists to study evolution, earth structure and signs of global climate change in different layers of the ice core.