Columbus O'Donnell Iselin (1904–1971) was an American oceanographer. He was the director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1940 to 1950, and from 1956 to 1960. He was Professor of Physical Oceanography at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Early life
Columbus O'Donnell Iselin was born on September 25, 1904, in New Rochelle, New York. His great-great-great-grandfather, Isaac Iselin, moved from Basel, Switzerland to the United States in 1801. His family were long-time members of the New York Yacht Club and his uncle, Charles Oliver Iselin, competed in the America's Cup.
He was educated at St. Mark's School, an Episcopal private boarding school in Southborough, Massachusetts, from 1917 to 1922. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1926 and a masters of arts degree in 1928 from Harvard University, where Henry Bryant Bigelow was one of his professors.
Career
Iselin was an oceanographer. He served as the Assistant Curator of Oceanography at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1929 to 1948. He served as physical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1932 to 1940, and as its Director from 1940 to 1950, and again from 1956 to 1960. During his tenure, he significantly expanded the institute, at least tenfold.



