Ross Gilmore Marvin

Ross Gilmore Marvin (January 28, 1880 – after December 8, 1908; reported as April 10, 1909) (December 8, 1908, was the date of Marvin's final entry in his diary.)

Early years Marvin was born in Elmira, New York, on January 28, 1880,

Polar expeditions

First expedition Marvin took part in the Peary expedition of 1905–1906, shortly after graduating from Cornell. Marvin was very eager to join the expedition, because he felt that it was his life's work. While failing to reach the North Pole, Peary asserted to have traveled father north than anyone. Marvin committed to accompany Peary on his next expedition.

After his return, Marvin became engaged, with plans to marry after his second expedition with Peary. Starting in January 1907, Marvin taught mathematics at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, and in September 1907 he joined the faculty at Cornell University as an instructor in mathematics and astronomy. He took a leave of absence from this post in order to participate in Peary's 1908–1909 expedition.

Second expedition Marvin was given the role of chief scientist and keeper of the ship's log. He would record the day-to-day activities of the men, and of the general conditions that the men had to face while headed toward the arctic, which included the weather. Marvin kept a journal of his days on the ice, however the entries began to dwindle as the expedition went on. His last journal entry was on December 8, 1908. However, Kudlookto stated in 1926 that he had shot and killed Marvin, either because Marvin had started acting irrationally,

Legacy Peary's expedition placed a brass tablet on a cairn in memorial to Marvin at Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island. The uninhabited Marvin Islands within the Quttinirpaaq National Park are named in his honor. A memorial tablet for Marvin was added to the Sage Chapel at Cornell University during the 1920s; fellow-explorer Richard E. Byrd visited the memorial in 1927.

The SS Ross G. Marvin, an American Liberty ship named in his honor, was built and launched in 1943. John M. Carmody, chair of the ship-naming committee within the United States Maritime Commission, had attended school with Marvin in Elmira. The ship was transferred to Britain under the Lend-Lease program, where it was renamed Samtroy in 1944.

The Peary Polar Expedition Medal, authorized by the United States Congress in 1944, was awarded to six people including Marvin; his family received his medal in 1949. A booklet about Marvin, entitled A Tragedy in the Arctic and written by James Vinton Stowell of the Chemung County Historical Society, was published in 1954.

A large boulder with a plaque commemorating Marvin was dedicated in his home town of Elmira in 1910; with a commemorative plaque dedicated in May 1968. The 1967 addition is now part of the Marvin Tode Science and Engineering Building.