David T. Pugh

David Pugh (13 July 1943 – 1 August 2022) was a British marine scientist and academic. He founded the Global Sea Level Observing System, was President of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, Director of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level and emeritus fellow of the UK National Oceanography Centre.

Biography Born in Liverpool, England, in 1943 to Welsh parents, Pugh was brought up in Trefnanney, Wales. He achieved his doctor of philosophy degree from Churchill College, Cambridge in 1968, with his doctoral thesis entitled "The Thermal Environment of the Deep-Sea Floor".

Along with American oceanographer Klaus Wyrtki, Pugh proposed and established the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), a program of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission including real-time tsunami detection and contributing data to the global Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) repository. He was the first Chair of GLOSS from its 1985 establishment, and also served as Director of the PSMSL. His 1987 book, "Tides, Surges and Mean Sea Level—A handbook for engineers and scientists", has been reported as "used by an enormous number of researchers and students", and received positive reviews as a valuable reference work. Following retirement Pugh continued to undertake research into tides and sea level, and was emeritus fellow of the National Oceanography Centre.

Awards and honours Pugh was awarded an OBE in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to Marine Sciences as Secretary of the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology.

Selected works