Scripps Oceanographer to Get Award

A Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientist will be honored Monday by the prestigious National Academy of Sciences for his exploration of ocean circulation, officials said Thursday.

Oceanographer Joseph L. Reid, a Scripps professor, will receive the Alexander Agassiz Gold Medal and $6,000 at a ceremony scheduled in Washington.

“As one of the nation’s eminent ocean explorers, Professor Reid has pioneered some of the most productive ideas and procedures for interpreting the currents of the world’s oceans,” said Edward A. Frieman, director of Scripps.

Reid’s studies focus on surface and subsurface circulation in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. A respected physical oceanographer, he has led numerous oceanographic expeditions all over the world.

“Many of the investigations of the physical properties of the oceans conducted by scientists today can be traced back to Professor Reid’s early work and his guidance of students and others whom he has trained,” Frieman said.

Reid, who has been affiliated with Scripps since he was a graduate student in 1948, was a director of the institution’s Marine Life Research Group for 13 years, ending in 1987.

He will be the eighth Scripps scientist to receive the Agassiz Medal. The last Scripps scientist to be honored was Walter Munk in 1976.

The Agassiz Medal was established in 1911 in honor of Alexander Agassiz, an American scientist who died in 1910. The award is given by the National Academy of Science every three years.

Reid graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Texas in 1942. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he enrolled at Scripps, where he received a master’s degree in physical oceanography in 1950.

Reid and his wife, Freda, who is a Scripps research associate, live in Del Mar.