Thomas Jaggar

Thomas Augustus Jaggar Jr. was an American volcanologist who founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and directed it from 1912 to 1940. After earning a PhD in geology from Harvard University in 1897, he was one of the scientists the United States sent in 1902 to investigate the volcanic disasters at La Soufriere on St Vincent and Mont Pelee on Martinique, an experience he credited with inspiring him to devote his career to volcanology, and he later became head of the department of geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1906 before traveling to Hawaii in 1909 to raise funds for the observatory he would go on to lead.