Ernest de Koven Leffingwell

Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (January 13, 1875 – January 27, 1971) was an arctic explorer, geologist and Spanish–American War veteran.

During the period from 1906 to 1914, Leffingwell spent nine summers and six winters on the Arctic coast of Alaska, making 31 trips by dog sled or small boats. There is no thesis or dissertation in the University of Chicago library, nor did Leffingwell list the degree in 1917. Herringshaw's (1914) and the identical entry in Men of Mark (1916)

He led the science staff in the 1901 Baldwin-Ziegler North Pole Expedition, which failed in its attempt to reach the North Pole from Franz Josef Land. The underfunded expedition fared badly but achieved some positive results. No new land was discovered, but they delineated part of the continental shelf and Leffingwell began his mapping efforts. Their ship, the Duchess of Bedford , was locked in pack ice and destroyed, but they salvaged the wood to build a cabin which Leffingwell used intermittently through 1914. Mikkelsen returned to the US in 1907, but Leffingwell remained on the arctic coast for another year. He returned to the North Slope 1909–1912 and 1913–1914, working with one assistant to map 250 km of the arctic coast, and the Canning River valley .

Honors Leffingwell was awarded the Patron's Medal by the Royal Geographical Society and the Charles P. Daly Medal by the American Geographical Society, both in 1922. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Trinity College in 1923. Leffingwell Fork, a stream on Alaska's North Slope, Leffingwell Ridge (Brooks Range) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Leffingwell Glacier in the Romanzof Mountains of the Brooks Range, Leffingwell Crags in Canada's Northwest Territories, and Leffingwell Nunatak in Greenland are named for him.

Publications SR Capps and EDK Leffingwell (1904) "Pleistocene Geology of the Sawatch Range near Leadville Colo" The Journal of Geology 12, Nov–Dec pp 698–706. Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (1908) "Flaxman Island a glacial remnant" Journal of Geology 16 (1) pp. 56–63 Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (1915a) "A communication from Leffingwell" University of Chicago Magazine 7 (3) January 1915, pp 76–79. Leffingwell's short popular account, written for the alumni magazine. See also page 69. Ernest de K. Leffingwell (1915b) "Ground-ice wedges, the dominant form of ground-ice on the north coast of Alaska" Journal of Geology 23, pp 635–654. Ernest de K. Leffingwell (1919) The Canning River Region, Northern Alaska Professional paper 109, United States Geological Survey, Govt. print. off., Washington (also at HathiTrust ) Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (1961) "My Polar Explorations, 1901–1914", Explorers Journal 39, 2–14