Tilley, Edgar Cecil (1894–1973)

Australian geologist, professor of mineralogy and petrology at Cambridge University 1931–61. His work in petrology embraced studies on metamorphic rocks, volcanic rocks (particularly those of Hawaii), and also on the genesis of basaltic magma.

Tilley was born in Adelaide, educated at the universities of Adelaide and Sydney, and first came to England in 1920. He was president of the Geological Society in 1949, and president of the Mineralogical Society, 1948–51. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1938, he was its vice-president in 1949–50.