Richard Wright Willett (31 October 1912 – 1974) was a New Zealand geologist. He rose to be Director of the New Zealand Geological Survey from 1956 to 1967, where his major work was the instigation of a 1:250,000 scale national geological map known as the 'Four Mile project'.

As a student at University of Otago he became active in the New Zealand Labour Party during the 1935 election.[1]

Sir Ernest Marsden lobbied for Willet to become the first 'Commonwealth geological liaison officer' which involved Willet and his family moving to London for the period 1951–1954.[1]

In 1958, Willet and two others published a detailed geological description on New Zealand's only uranium-rush, that of Hawks Crag in the Buller Gorge.[1]

In 1965, Willett was awarded an honorary DSc from the University of Otago.[2]

Willett was President of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1970–1974, preceded by John Miles and followed by Sir Malcolm McRae Burns.[3]

Selected works

  • A glacial valley, Mount Aurum, Skippers' Creek Survey District. Richard Wright Willett. Wellington : Govt. Printer, 1939.
  • Elliotvale Coal-mine H. W. Wellman and Richard Wright Willett, Government Printer, New Zealand, 1944
  • Coal at Coal Creek, Centre Hill, Survey District, Southland. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Wellington, N.Z. : Govt. Printer, 1945.
  • The Limestone Resources of Southland, New Zealand. Richard Wright Willett, New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1950
  • Uranium mineralization in the Hawks Crag Breccia of the Lower Buller Gorge Region, South Island, New Zealand. A. C. Beck, J. J. Reed & R. W. Willett. Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1:3, 432–450, 1958 DOI: 10.1080/00288306.1958.10422773
  • Report from the Royal Society of New Zealand Earthquake Risk Subcommittee. Richard Wright Willett. 1962

References

  1. 1 2 3 Willett, Keith (2017). "Browse journals by subject". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 47 (2): 187–192. doi:10.1080/03036758.2017.1305976.
  2. ↑ "Emeritus Professors" (PDF). Otago.ac.nz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Royal Society Te Aparangi – Presidents". Royalsociety.org.nz. Retrieved 5 July 2017.


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