Spilhaus, Athelstan

Scientist, administrator and educator, Athelstan Spilhaus (1911-1998) contributed to oceanography, meteorology, and cartography; served as a dean at the University of Minnesota; and promoted science education and science-based management of the earth’s resources. Born in Rondebosch, South Africa, he held degrees in mechanical engineering (University of Cape Town, 1931) and in aeronautical engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1933).

In 1936 Spilhaus joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Here he developed the bathythermograph, a device that made possible the measurement of ocean depths and temperatures from a moving vessel. This invention established his international reputation. From 1941 through 1945 he served in the United States Army, teaching meteorology and traveling in Europe and China, where he supervised a network of weather stations and met Chairman Mao Zedong.

In 1948 Spilhaus became dean of science and technology at the University of Minnesota, a position he held until 1967. While there, he promoted the establishment of a Sea Grant Universities program for oceanographic education and research. The U.S. Congress formally established this program in 1966. In 1955 Spilhaus started writing scripts for Our New Age, a science-based newspaper comic strip, which ran until the early 1970s.

President John F. Kennedy in 1961 appointed Spilhaus U.S. Commissioner to the Seattle World’s Fair, also known as the Century 21 Exposition. In 1967 he became president of the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, but left two years later after difficulties with the museum directors. During the 1970s, he served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, as consultant to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and in other scientific and cultural roles. An advocate for improvements in environmental science and urban development, Spilhaus promoted the Minnesota Experimental City, a project envisioned as a venue to test new urban designs in real-world conditions.

From 1977 to 1978 Spilhaus was a distinguished visiting professor of marine sciences at the University of Texas. During the 1980s and 1990s Spilhaus designed new map projections highlighting the earth’s oceans, as well as map-themed puzzles. During his last years Spilhaus and his third wife Kathleen became known as authorities on antique mechanical toys.

From the guide to the Athelstan Spilhaus Papers 2004-191; 2005-183; 2009-031; 2010-029; 2010-168. 128174282., 1912-2003 (bulk 1930-1990), (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)