John Orcutt Biography:

Prof. Orcutt is a graduate of Annapolis (1966) and received his MSc in physics as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Liverpool (1968). He served as a submariner and advanced to the rank of Commander. He received his PhD in Earth Sciences from Scripps (1976). He has published more than 160 scientific papers and received the Ewing Medal from the USN and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He was awarded the Newcomb-Cleveland Prize from the AAAS in 1983 for the discovery of seafloor “black smoker” vents. He discovered molten magma chambers beneath mid-ocean ridges in the 70’s. He is one of seven Secretary of the Navy Oceanography Chairs. He is the immediate Past-President of the American Geophysical Union (46,000 members) and was elected to the American Philosophical Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, in 2002. He is the Director of the UCSD Center for Earth Observations and Applications, the Center for BioEnergy Science & Technology, and is Associate Vice-Chancellor – Research.