Alfred Stephenson

Alfred Stephenson OBE (25 November 1908 – 3 July 1999) was an English polar explorer and surveyor.

Biography Stephenson was born in Norwich, England and was educated at Norwich School. At age 12 he attended a public lecture given by Ernest Shackleton which inspired his interest in the polar regions.

Following graduation Stephenson joined the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to Greenland as chief surveyor. In often difficult polar conditions the expedition surveyed a strategic area of Greenland valuable to the Great Circle air route between the British Isles and North America, work for which Stephenson was awarded the Polar Medal.

In 1932 he was a member of the British Polar Year Expedition. In 1934 he was chief surveyor and meteorologist of the British Graham Land Expedition in the Antarctic.

During the Second World War he joined the RAF as chief instructor at the Central Allied Photo Interpretation Unit. For his work in training interpreters and helping to develop new photographic interpretation techniques he was appointed an OBE. In 1945 he joined Imperial College London, where he was involved in teaching and research until his retirement in 1972. From 1956 to 1996 he was the honorary secretary of the Antarctic Club.

Legacy Mount Stephenson, the highest peak (3,100 m) in the Douglas Range of Antarctica, and Stephenson Nunatak, in the southeast part of Alexander Island, as well as Stephenson Island (Greenland), are named after him.