Quick Facts
Biography
Paul Felix Hoffman, FRSC, OC (born March 21, 1941) is a Canadian geologist andSturgis Hooper Professor Emeritus of Geology at Harvard University.He specializes on the Precambrian era and is widely known for his research on Snowball Earth glaciation in the Neoproterozoic era particularly through his research on sedimentary rocks of Namibia .
Born in Toronto, Ontario, he received a B.Sc. from McMaster University in 1964, a M.Sc. from Johns Hopkins University in 1965, and was awarded a Ph.D. by Johns Hopkins University in 1970, where his doctoral advisor was Francis J. Pettijohn.
Paul Hoffman formerly worked for the Geological Survey of Canada and was subsequently the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University.He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia where he has an appointment within the University of Victoria School of Earth and Ocean Science.
He is also the brother of Abby Hoffman, a Pan American Games gold medalist and Olympian in track and field. Both have received the Order of Canada for accomplishments in different fields.
Honours
- In 1974, he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's Past-Presidents' Medal
- In 1991 he was awarded the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists's R. J. W. Douglas Medal
- In 1992 he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's highest honour, the Logan Medal
- In 1997 he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Willet G. Miller Medal
- In 2009 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society
- In 2011 he was awarded the Geological Society of America's Penrose Medal
- In 2012 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
- In 2016 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society