Thomas Jaggar, son of an Episcopal bishop, turned his love of geology into a lifelong endeavor to understand volcanic eruptions.
He did it on the Big Island, overlooking the rim of one of the world's most active volcanoes. In this, he was a true pioneer.
Born in Philadelphia in 1871 and educated at Harvard University, Jaggar had led a scientific expedition to Martinique, in the West Indies, in 1902 and witnessed — within days of Mount Pelee's eruption that killed 28,000 people — the devastation. It was a turning point in Jaggar's career.
After a decade of volcanic study, Jaggar founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in 1911 on Kilauea volcano. He felt that Big Island volcanoes were easy to reach with relatively little danger to scientists.
He studied the behavior of Hawai'i's volcanoes for 28 years as director of the observatory.
Jaggar remained steadfast in his mission throughout his time at Kilauea, believing that his work should lead to the protection of life and property.
Financially, it was not an easy task. At times, Jaggar served without a regular salary, and at other times, he paid for equipment out of his own pocket.
Jaggar was a strong supporter of the move to create a national park at the volcanoes. He succeeded in 1916.
Jaggar was praised for his ideas about protecting cities from advancing lava with barriers and aerial bombing. The latter procedure was used twice on the Big Island.
Jaggar died in 1953 at the age of 81.
