Harold Williams

Who was Harold Williams?

Harold Williams M.Sc Ph.D FRSC was one of the premier field geologists in the history of Newfoundland geology and the foremost expert on the Appalachian Mountains of North America. An expert on the evolution and tectonic development of mountain belts, Williams advanced the theory of colliding super-continents in the 1960s and 1970s by helping to transform the notion of continental drift into the theory of plate tectonics.

Williams was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and attended Memorial University of Newfoundland earning a diploma in Engineering and a B.Sc degree and a M.Sc degree on a Dominion Command scholarship. He earned a Ph.D from the University of Toronto in 1961. He thereafter joined the Geological Survey of Canada, where he the gained the reputation of being an expert field geologist and outstanding scientist. He left the GSC in 1968 and joined the faculty at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he was the first to receive the prestigious title of University Research Professor and the first to be appointed Alexander Murray Professor. He was the first to win both the Past President’s Medal and the Logan Medal of the Geological Association of Canada.