John C. Mutter
Deputy Director/Associate Vice Provost of the Earth Institute at Columbia
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University

Dr. Mutter is involved in three areas at Columbia. First, a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences where he teaches at two distinctly different levels. At an introductory level he teaches about the Earth's complex dynamic systems like earthquakes and climate variations to non-majors. He also teaches a graduate level course in Marine Seismology where students learn how seismic energy is used to learn about the Earth's inrterior.

In a second role Dr. Mutter's main research interest is in global tectonics using geophysical techniques. He has conducted more than thirty research cruises in all parts of the world including the Arctic and Antarctic. In this area he has authored or co-authored more than 70 articles in scientific journals and many popular articles. His work now includes studying how physical understanding of these systems, and the inherent limits to their predictability can be employed as the basis for advancing sustainable development.

In Dr. Mutter's third role he is the Deputy Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia. Where he is working to apply his experience as a science manager (two terms as Interim Director at Lamont-Doherty as well as its Executive Deputy Director) to the daunting but critical challenges undertaken by the Institute.

He received a B.Sc. in Physics and Pure Mathematics from the University of Melbourne, Australia, a M.Sc. in Geophysics from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a Ph.D. in Marine Geophysics from Columbia University. He was born in Melbourne, and is an Australian citizen and permanent U.S. resident.