保罗·菲利克斯·霍夫曼1941—

Paul Felix Hoffman, FRSC, OC (born March 21, 1941) is a Canadian geologist and Sturgis Hooper Professor Emeritus of Geology at Harvard University. He specializes in the Precambrian era and is widely known for his research on Snowball Earth glaciation in the Neoproterozoic era particularly through his research on sedimentary rocks of Namibia.

Life and career

Born 1941 in Toronto, Ontario, he received a B.Sc. from McMaster University in 1964, a M.Sc. from Johns Hopkins University in 1965, and was awarded a Ph.D. by Johns Hopkins University in 1970, where his doctoral advisor was Francis J. Pettijohn.

Paul Hoffman formerly worked for the Geological Survey of Canada and was subsequently the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University. He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia where he has an appointment within the University of Victoria School of Earth and Ocean Science.

He is also the brother of Abby Hoffman, a Pan American Games gold medalist and Olympian in track and field. Both have received the Order of Canada for accomplishments in different fields.

Honours

In 1974, he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's Past-Presidents' Medal

In 1991 he was awarded the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists's R. J. W. Douglas Medal

In 1992 he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's highest honour, the Logan Medal

In 1997 he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Willet G. Miller Medal

In 2009 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society

In 2010 he received the American Geophysical Union's Walter H. Bucher Medal.

• In 2011 he was awarded the Geological Society of America's Penrose Medal
• In 2012 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
• In 2016 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society

In 2024 he received the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences in the category of "Earth and planetary sciences".