Previous Honorary Members


R G Williams OBE


Former Secretary of the National Institute of Oceanography at Wormley and former Treasurer of the Challenger Society for Marine Science from 1956 - 1973. Sadly, Ray died in January of 2016 aged 92.
Ray Williams played a key role in managing the Institute’s  finances and most notable in managing the funding the construction of the new (1962)  RRS Discovery.


 1987

  • Prof RI Currie

1977

  • Commander WJ Copenhagen

1973

  • Sir George Edward Raven Deacon FRS 1906-1984 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1985 vol 31 pp 111-142)
  • Dr Cyril Lucas, biography
  • Sir Frederick Stratten Russell FRS 1897-1984 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1986 vol 32 pp 461-493)

1966

  • JN Carruthers

1964

  • HO Bull

1958

  • Eric Henry Edwardes Havelock CB, CBE, OBE, FRSE

1957

  • Joseph Proudman FRS 1888-1975 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1976 vol 22 pp 319-333)

1951

  • William Thomas Calman FRS 1871-1952 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1952-1953 vol 8 pp 355-372) HU Sverdrup

1950

  • GP Bidder

1948

  • Dr HR Mill
  • Mr HG Maurice

1939

  • Edgar Johnson Allen FRS 1866-1942 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1942-1944 vol 4 pp 357-367)
  • HB Bigelow, biography
  • E le Danois
  • G Gilson
  • B Helland-Hansen
  • O Pettersson
  • G Schott

1929

  • Schmidt
  • Swire (last surviving member of officers and scientific staff of HMS Challenger)

1923

  • Dr Johan Hjort FRS 1869-1948 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1950-1951 vol 7 pp 167-181)

1915

  • Prof Georg Ossian Sars

1910

  • H.S.H. The Prince of Monaco

1905

  • Prof Dr Karl Brandt
  • Prof Dr Carl Chun
  • Prof Max Wilhelm Carl Weber FRS 1852-1937 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1936-1938 vol 2 pp 347-355)

Latest News

Challenger Society History of Oceanography SIG Webinars

The Challenger Society Special Interest Group on the History of Oceanography will be having a series of zoom webinars in 2025. The talks will be at 5pm UK time on Wednesday evenings (3rd Wed of the month):

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Job vacancy

The Ocean Census is actively seeking a Workshop Coordinator to join our dynamic team to manage the workshop and related processes with an international alliance of partners. The deadline for applications is 15th December 2024. Link to further details: https://oceancensus.org/job-opportunity-workshop-coordinator/

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Socio-oceanography Workshop sets sights on key climate and ocean challenges

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is calling on scientists and researchers to participate in its fourth annual Socio-Oceanography Workshop, hosted in collaboration with the Marine Social Science Network.

This international event, set to take place at NOC’s Southampton site 26-28 February 2025, will gather experts across natural and social sciences to tackle the pressing issues linking people and the changing ocean.
This year’s workshop will focus on four key themes, including the impact of climate change-driven shifts in marine species distribution and how these changes will affect the way the UK marine environment is perceived, valued, and managed.

Other topics include integrating digital humans into environmental digital twins, addressing biases in research related to marine carbon dioxide removal, and exploring how local communities can engage in participatory environmental monitoring.

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