Alexander Norman Halliday - Biography#

Alex Halliday is an isotope geochemist known for novel mass spectrometry techniques and their applications to the Earth and planetary sciences. He is particularly recognized for his work on the development of multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and its application to the timing and processes of accretion, core formation and volatile loss in the terrestrial planets. However, he has also worked on mantle geochemistry, silicic volcanism, mineral deposits and ocean tracers. Halliday comes from Cornwall, in the UK. He graduated in geology followed by a doctorate in physics, both from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He spent ten years at the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, then twelve years as a professor at the University of Michigan, followed by six years at ETH Zürich. He has been at Oxford University since 2004. Halliday has been President of the Geochemical Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, and the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. He has experience with a range of science boards and advisory panels including those of the Natural Environment Research Council, the Max Planck Society and the American Geophysical Union. His honors include Fellowship of the Royal Society and Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the recipient of the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society, the Urey Medal of the European Association of Geochemistry, the Oxburgh Medal of the Institute of Measurement and Control and the Harry H. Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union. At Oxford he was the dean of science and engineering from 2007 to 2015. He was elected Vice President (Physical Secretary) of the Royal Society in 2014.