Haller, John

John Haller (1927-1984), a professor of geology at Harvard University (1965-1984), was an authority on structural geology, tectonics, and regional geology. He was a member of the Danish East Greenland Expeditions between 1949 and 1963 and is recognized for his compilatory work on the Geology of the East Greenland Caledonides.

John Haller was born on March 6, 1927, in Basel, Switzerland to Hans Haller (b. 1894) and Frieda (Meyer) Haller . He received his secondary education at the Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Gymnasium in Basel, graduating in 1946. Having been introduced to skiing and hiking in the Alps, he became an expert. He eventually joined the ski team of the University and the Academic Alpine Club. Intrigued by rock formations, Haller decided to become a geologist. In 1952, John Haller earned a Ph.D. degree in Mineralogy Petrography from the University of Basel. His thesis dealt with the Geologie und Petrographie von West-Andrée Land und Ost-Fraenkels Land. Field work had been carried out while Haller was a member of the Danish East Greenland Expeditions from 1949 to 1951, under the leadership of Dr. Lauge Koch, a pioneer in polar exploration.

From 1952 to 1962 Haller was employed by the Ministry of Greenland as a scientist and worked as the chief geologist on the staff of Lauge Koch's East Greenland Expeditions till their cessation in 1958. He spent altogether nine summers and one winter with field activities in this vast, pristine region. Mapping was done on the ground and from the air. He became responsible for the regional map compilation of the Koch Expeditions which had accumulated an immense amount of data of the region between 72° and 76°N. Haller's experience and knowledge of the territory, gained through both detailed structural and petrological analysis of selected terrains and widespread air reconnaissance had prepared him for the task. In 1971, the Geological Map of East Greenland 72° and 76°N in 13 sheets at scale 1:250,000 was published. This, together with his Tectonic Map of East Greenland 1:500,000, his book Geology of the East Greenland Caledonides, and his Geological Map of North-East Greenland 75° and 82°N 1:100,000 constitute the definitive source material from this remote area. Between 1959 and 1969 a series of monographs appeared in the Meddelelser om Grønland, most notably Der Zentrale Komplex von NE Greenland, Part 1 and Part 2.

In 1957 Haller was appointed Lecturer of Petrology and Structural Geology at the University of Basel. In 1964 he visited Harvard University to teach courses in structural geology and tectonics. Shortly after, Haller joined the Harvard faculty as an Associate Professor of Geology (1965). In 1969, Haller was appointed a full Professor of Geology. In 1976 Haller was the Faculty Director of the sessions on Our Mobile Earth offered by the Harvard Alumni College. A few years later, in 1982, he became the first director of the Sierra Madre Field Camp in Wyoming for earth science students, a program sponsored jointly by the geology departments of Cornell University, Harvard University, and Yale University.

Although Haller's research focused on the geology of East Greenland for many years, between 1963 and 1972 he carried out extensive field studies in the British and Scandinavian Caledonides. He also engaged in field investigations in the Betic Cordillera (Spain) and in the North American Cordilleran, a broad mountain belt extending north from Mexico to Alaska. At Harvard, Haller continued his studies of comparative tectonics, focusing on the relationship between plutonism, regional metamorphism, and tectonic transport.

The Geological Society of Denmark recognized John Haller's "outstanding contributions, particularly to the geology of East Greenland" by awarding him the coveted Steno Medal in 1974.

In 1952 John Haller married Susanna (Weisskopf) Haller. They had two sons: Daniel (b.1957) and Patrick (b.1962).

John Haller died on May 1, 1984 at the age of 57 after an extended illness.

From the guide to the Papers of John Haller, 1944-1984., (Harvard University Archives)