Thomas Henry Holland

Who was Thomas Henry Holland?

Sir Thomas Henry Holland KCSI KCIE FRS was a British geologist and educational administrator.

Thomas Holland was born in Helston, Cornwall. In 1884, he won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Science, graduating with a first class degree in Geology. He stayed on until he was awarded a Berkeley Fellowship at Owens College, Manchester, in 1889.

In 1890, Holland was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India and curator of the Geological Museum and Laboratory. In 1903, he was appointed Director of the Geological Survey of India and in 1904 he was elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1908, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire for his services to the Geological Survey of India. He was president of the British Association in 1928–1929.

Under the editorship of Holland a four volume "Provincial Geographies of India" series was published between 1913-23 from the Cambridge University Press.

Holland was Rector of Imperial College London from 1922 to 1929 and Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1929 to 1944. The Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for 1939 was awarded to Sir Thomas H.