Thorne Lay

Thorne Lay
Born1956 (age 69–70)
Casper, Wyoming
AwardsHarry Fielding Reid Medal (2014)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (2021)
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Rochester (B.S., 1978)
California Institute of Technology (M.S., PhD).
ThesisAnalysis of Upper and Lower Mantle Structure Using Shear Waves (1983)
Bradford H. Hager
Other advisors
Donald V. Helmberger
Hiroo Kanamori
Academic work
DisciplineGeophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Santa Cruz
Main interests
Seismology

Thorne Lay (born 1956) is an American seismologist. He is a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lay was awarded the senior medal of the Seismological Society of America in 2014, and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2021.

Early life

Lay was born in Casper, Wyoming in 1956, where his father worked for the Wyoming Geological Survey. Lay moved to Dallas, Texas as a child, where his father worked on the infrasound monitoring of Soviet atmospheric nuclear tests, and attended law school. Lay developed an interest in geology from family vacations, and later joined some geological field excursions run by the University of Texas, El Paso.

Education and career

Lay received a B.S. from the University of Rochester in 1978 in geomechanics; a dual degree in geology and mechanical engineering. He then moved to the California Institute of Technology for graduate study, where he gained an M.S. in 1980, and a Ph.D. in 1983, in seismology.

In his research, Lay has worked on a number of topics in seismology, relating both to the physics of earthquakes, and the use of seismic waves to understand the deep structure of the planet. He has been recognised for his work with medals and awards from the American Geophysical Union and the Seismological Society of America, among others, and was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2014. In 2021, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, for his "outstanding contributions to seismological analysis".

Selected awards and academic honors

References

  1. ↑ "Thorne Lay | Seismological Society of America". www.seismosoc.org. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  2. ↑ "Thorne Lay". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Paul (2021). "Thorne Lay: RAS Gold Medallist". Astronomy & Geophysics. 62 (April): 2.43.
  4. 1 2 "People - UC Santa Cruz Seismology Laboratory". websites.pmc.ucsc.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  5. 1 2 3 Stephens, Tim (6 May 2014). "Thorne Lay honored by Seismological Society of America". Retrieved 26 September 2026 – via UC Santa Cruz News.
  6. ↑ AGU (2015). "Thorne Lay receives 2014 Inge Lehmann Medal". Eos. 96. doi:10.1029/2015EO022039.