John West Wells

John West Wells (July 15, 1907 – January 12, 1994) was an American paleontologist, biologist and geologist who focused his research on corals.

He was notable for, among other things, proving that the rotational period of the Earth undergoes periodic changes. majoring in chemistry. However he soon became fascinated by geology, under the guidance of Ransom E. Sommers and Henry Leighton.

Early career Wells became an instructor of geology at the University of Texas from 1929 to 1931, whilst studying for his M.A. from Cornell University in 1930, with a special interest in paleontology. He took his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1933 under Gilbert D. Harris. His work with OSS assessed the state of universities and museums in France and Germany, following the war. spending many months studying corals of the Great Barrier Reef. During this period he established a productive working relationship with Dorothy Hill of the University of Queensland, who was the leading Australian expert on reef geology. Wells and Dorothy Hill would jointly prepare nine sections on the Coelenterata for the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology published in 1956. Wells would also prepare sections on Scleractinia for the Treatise.

Wells' most widely read paper appeared in November 1962 and was published in Nature. Astronomers and geophysicists paid attention to his “Coral Growth and Geochronometry” paper, which demonstrated their theory that the Earth's rotation was slowing down.

Wells would retire from Cornell in 1973, and become Emeritus Professor. In 1975 he travelled to the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands and helped identify six new species of azooxanthellate corals.

John Wells' long-standing interests and research into local and cultural history, especially that of upstate New York, were able to flourish in retirement. In 1958, he published The Cayuga Bridge, a story of New York local history. The summer home on Cayuga Lake, that Wells and his wife established in 1948, would host students, colleagues, and other friends from around the world, for decades. Wells had an important collection of early works on American and European geology. 1961-62: President, Paleontological Society

The Wells family donated papers to the Cornell University Library Archives, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections -Baker Wells Family Papers, #3601.

The Paleontological Research Institution established a grant in Wells' name for students to use their research collection.