F.G. Walton Smith

Dr. F.G. Walton Smith (1909–1989) was an oceanographer who founded the Marine Laboratory which is now known as the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami^[1]

Early life[]

Originally from Bristol, England, Smith received his doctorate from the University of London as a biologist, before going on to study in the Bahamas and accepting a position at the faculty of the University of Miami in 1940. He started the university laboratory 1943 with only a secretary and two assistants in a small boathouse.

Career[]

In 1953, Smith established the International Oceanographic Foundation to encourage scientific study and exploration of the oceans, which led to the opening of a marine exhibition called Planet Ocean at Biscayne Bay. The laboratory Smith founded is now better known as the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and he became dean of the school in 1969. Smith was also chairman of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute for ten years from 1948.

Smith wrote two books, The Ocean River with Henry Chaplin (1952), and The Sun, the Sea and Tomorrow (1954).

The primary research vessel of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is the F.G. Walton Smith, named in honor of the school's founder.^[2]

Personal life[]

Smith lived with his wife May in Key Biscayne and had one daughter, Alexandra Hofgren and a grandson, Nicholas Hofgren. He was 80 years old when he died of heart failure in Miami in 1989.^[1]

References[]