David Kear

David Kear (29 October 1923 – 5 March 2019) was a New Zealand geologist and science administrator. He served as director-general of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research from 1980 to 1983.

Early life and education Born in London on 29 October 1923, Kear was educated at Sevenoaks School in Kent. He went on to study at Imperial College London from 1941 to 1944, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1944.

In 1948, Kear married Joan Kathleen Rose Bridges in Maidstone, Kent, and the couple went on to have three children.

Career Kear worked at the New Zealand Geological Survey (NZGS) from 1948 to 1974. He was district geologist at Ngāruawāhia between 1949 and 1958, and at Auckland from 1958 to 1965. He served as chief economics geologist from 1963 and 1967, and was director of the NZGS from 1967 to 1974.

Kear wrote more than 125 scientific papers and books on New Zealand and Western Samoan geology and volcanology. In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kear was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Later life and death In retirement, Kear lived in Ōhope,

Kear died in Auckland on 5 March 2019, having been predeceased by his wife, Joan, in 2013.