Alexander O. Stevens was born on 11 January 1886 in Scotland. Graduating with an arts degree from Glasgow University in 1907, he taught at Stornaway before returning to Glasgow to study science. After graduating with a distinction in geology in 1913, he worked as an assistant in the department of geography before joining the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition [Ross Sea Party], 1914-1917 (leader Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton), as geologist and chief of scientific staff. He participated in depot-laying operations across the Ross Ice Shelf, providing all that was needed for Shackleton and the trans-polar party.
After the expedition, Stevens saw service in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. Returning to Glasgow University after the war, he was head of the department of geography, and in 1947 was appointed the first professor of geography at Glasgow University. In 1919, Stevens visited the Arctic as geologist with the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate's expedition. After his retirement in 1953, he lectured on several occasions at St Andrew's University and the John Hopkins University in Baltimore. He died on 20 December 1965.
From the guide to the Alexander Stevens collection, 1914-1929, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
