J. S. Flett

Sir John Smith Flett (26 June 1869 – 26 January 1947) was a Scottish physician and geologist.

Early life

Born in Kirkwall, Orkney, the son of James Ferguson Flett, a merchant and baillie, and Mary Ann (née Copland). He was educated at Kirkwall Burgh School, George Watson's College in Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh (MA; BSc 1892; MB CM 1894; DSc 1900; LLD 1912).

Flett worked as a general practitioner for a short while after graduation, but in 1895 turned to geology for a career. He served as lecturer in Petrology at the University of Edinburgh, and as Petrographer (1901), assistant director (1911) and Director (1920–35) of the Geological Survey of Great Britain.

Expeditions

Flett participated in several geological expeditions. He went with Tempest Anderson to observe the aftermaths of eruptions in the Caribbean in 1902 and 1907.

Awards and later life

Flett was awarded the Neill Prize (1898–1901) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1900, on the proposal of James Geikie, Ben Peach, John Horne and Ramsay Traquair. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1913, received the Bolitho Medal of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in 1917, appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1918 Birthday Honours and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order (KBE) in the 1925 Birthday Honours and won the Wollaston Medal in 1935.

Flett served as president of the Edinburgh Geological Society, president of the Mineralogical Society, and president of the geology section of the British Association (1921).