Born Bedford Park, West London, 1919; educated at King's School, Worcester; read geology at Imperial College, 1937-1941; Second World War service included a posting to the Orkneys working on radar; returned to Imperial College for his PhD; worked with Janet Vida Watson (they married in 1949), on the Lewisian Gneiss and other geological problems, co-authoring a number of important papers; Lecturer, 1948; Reader, 1956; Professor of Geology, 1958; Head of Department, 1964-1974, whilst it became one of the largest in Europe, largely responsible for the establishment of the Centre for Environmental Technology (first Chairman and a Senior Research Fellow), and the Centre for Remote Sensing; Dean of the Royal School of Mines (part of Imperial College), 1965-1968, 1974-1977; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1966; President of the Geologists' Association 1966-1968; Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1975-1977; Trustee of the British Museum (Natural History), 1976-1981; member of the Natural Environment Research Council 1977-1979; Pro-Rector of Imperial College, 1979-1983; died, 1992. Publications: The Geologist's Approach to Mountain Building London, 1959); Further Observations on the Margin of the Laxfordian Complex of the Lewisian near Loch Laxford, Sutherland, etc with Janet Watson (Edinburgh, 1962)
From the guide to the SUTTON, Profesor John (1919-1992), 1910-1995, (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine)
