Sutton , John , 1919-1992 , geologist

Born Bedford Park, West London, 1919; educated at King's School, Worcester; read geology at Imperial College, 1937-1941; Second World War service included a posting to the Orkneys working on radar; returned to Imperial College for his PhD; worked with Janet Vida Watson (they married in 1949), on the Lewisian Gneiss and other geological problems, co-authoring a number of important papers; Lecturer, 1948; Reader, 1956; Professor of Geology, 1958; Head of Department, 1964-1974, whilst it became one of the largest in Europe, largely responsible for the establishment of the Centre for Environmental Technology (first Chairman and a Senior Research Fellow), and the Centre for Remote Sensing; Dean of the Royal School of Mines (part of Imperial College), 1965-1968, 1974-1977; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1966; President of the Geologists' Association 1966-1968; Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1975-1977; Trustee of the British Museum (Natural History), 1976-1981; member of the Natural Environment Research Council 1977-1979; Pro-Rector of Imperial College, 1979-1983; died, 1992.
Publications: The Geologist's Approach to Mountain Building London, 1959); Further Observations on the Margin of the Laxfordian Complex of the Lewisian near Loch Laxford, Sutherland, etc with Janet Watson (Edinburgh, 1962)