James de Graaff-Hunter

James de Graaff-Hunter (11 September 1881 – 3 February 1967) was a British geodesist who served as director of Survey of India's Geodetic Branch from 1928 to 1932, and as President of the International Association of Geodesy from 1954 to 1957.

Early life and education James de Graaff-Hunter was born in Chester as the youngest of three sons on 11 September 1881. His father was James G. M. Hunter, who was a seed merchant, and his mother, Sarah J. , was a pianist. De Graaff-Hunter was christened after his godfather, Herr de Graaff, a bulb grower and friend of his father. Throughout his life, he stylized his name as both J. de Graaff Hunter and J. de Graaff-Hunter (with a hyphen). From Cambridge he received a B.A. in 1903, an M.A. in 1907, and a Sc.D. in 1920.

Career After leaving Cambridge, de Graaff-Hunter worked as a mathematics master at the Harrow School for two months in 1904, He was moved to multiple different stalags, before being released in 1942. He continued work as a surveyor in India until 1946.

His "Model Earth" proposed through multiple publications in the late 1950s and into the 1960s was at the time a novel new model, and it remains an important model in the field of geodesy. The model moved landmasses around without adding or destroying mass to smooth out the surface of the Earth. This work, as well as much of his other studies, builds off the work of George Gabriel Stokes.

He moved to Australia in 1962, and, aged 85, he died in his Mosman, New South Wales home on 3 February 1967.