Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2003.0006: Richard L. Cameron, 2003 October
[identification of item], Richard L. Cameron Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0133, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2023 November; Finding aid written by: David Mezick, 2024 January
Dr. Richard (Dick) L. Cameron (1930-2019) was a glaciologist who conducted research in Antarctica. He was born in Laconia, New Hampshire. Cameron enrolled at the University of New Hampshire in 1948. In 1953, he went to Norway to attend the University of Olso International Summer School and then studied glaciers with the Norwegian Polar Institute. Cameron completed his Bachelor of Science degree in geology at the University of New Hampshire in 1954. The summer after he graduated, he conducted glaciological research in Greenland for the Snow, Ice, and Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE). That experience led Cameron to visit Sweden in 1955, where he was involved with further glaciological research and took courses at the University of Stockholm.
In 1955, Cameron was invited to go to Antarctica as part of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). He traveled to Antarctica in 1956 and helped to set up Hallett and Wilkes Stations. Cameron stayed at Wilkes Station until early 1958 and conducted glaciological research.
After returning to the United States in 1958, Cameron attended The Ohio State University (OSU) and worked at the OSU Institute of Polar Studies, Glaciological Data Reduction Center. He earned his Doctorate in geology from OSU in 1963. Cameron then got a job as Assistant to the Director of the OSU Institute of Polar Studies. He conducted glaciological research in Antarctica from 1964 to 1965 as part of the South Pole-Queen Maud Land Traverse that went from the South Pole to the Pole of Inaccessibility. Cameron then held several other positions at OSU, including Associate Director at the Ohio State University Research Foundation, Assistant Dean of University College, and Assistant Dean of International Programs. He also taught as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Geology Department during this time.
In 1973, Cameron left OSU to work at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He started as Associate Program Manager and then became Program Manager of International Organizations at the Office of International Programs. Cameron then became Program Manager for Glaciology at the Office of Polar Programs in 1975 (the Office of Polar Programs was renamed the Division of Polar Programs in 1976). While at the NSF, he returned several times to Antarctica as well as Greenland. After leaving the NSF in 1985, Cameron moved to Collinsville, Illinois, and worked as an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities in the area, including Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. Cameron Island in Antarctica was named for Richard L. Cameron.
The Richard L. Cameron Oral History, dated 2002-2009, contains audio recordings, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between Cameron and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on October 8, 2003. The notes are dated before, during, and after the interview, and the interview transcript was completed in 2009. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include what led to Dr. Cameron to pursue a career in glaciology, his experiences in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958), his research studying the properties of glaciers, ice, and snow in Antarctica, earning his Doctorate at The Ohio State University and the different positions he had there, his experiences during the South Pole-Queen Maud Land Traverse (1964-1965) in Antarctica, and the different roles he had at the National Science Foundation.