Born in Guam, the Marianas Islands, he received his B.A in physics/geology in 1942 from California State University, San Diego (now San Diego State University), his M.S. (in 1948) and Ph.D. (in 1953) in oceanography from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research was done at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, under the direction of Francis Parker Shepard. His dissertation title was Areal and Seasonal Variations in Beach and Nearshore Sediments at La Jolla, California. He was a professor of marine geology or oceanography in the University of California system since 1953 most recently as professor of oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and at the Center for Coastal Studies at Scripps.Profiles in Science," Naval Research Reviews (v. 33, n. 4, Fall, 1981)
