Bullen, Keith Edward (KE)

Keith Edward Bullen was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 29 June 1906. He was educated at Bayfield School, Auckland Grammar School, and Auckland University College, where he graduated BA in 1926, MA in 1928, and BSc in 1930. He then pursued post graduate studies at the University of Cambridge, entering St. John's College, where he gained a PhD in 1933, and later, a ScD in 1946. He married Florence Mary Pressley in Auckland on 15 May, 1935.

From 1926 to 1927, Bullen was on the staff of Auckland Grammer School. From 1928 to 1931,he was Lecturer in Mathematics at Auckland University College, and from 1934 to 1946, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Melbourne. He was appointed to the Chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of Sydney in 1946, retiring in 1971.

Honours and awards included President of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Interior of the Earth, Vice President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chairman of the Australian Committee for the International Geophysical year. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences, Pontifical Academician, foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, and Honorary Foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded a special MA degree from the University of Melbourne, and Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Science from both the University of New Zealand, and the University of Sydney.

His supervisor during his Cambridge days was Harold Jeffreys, who subsequently became a life long friend. Together, they published earthquake travel-time tables of greater accuracy than had hitherto been the case. This work was first published in 1935, and re-published in 1940, following further research. In 1932, Bullen visited Europe and the then Soviet Union.

Much of Bullen's later work included substantiating theories of the Earth's solid inner core. He also advocated the synchronisation of nuclear explosions and seismological measurements, in order to study the resulting earthquake waves with greater accuracy.


Bullen produced three major works, "An Introduction to the Theory of Seismology", ( 1947 ), "An Introduction to the Theory of Mechanics", ( 1949 ), and "The Earth's Density", ( 1975 ). He also produced some 300 research articles. He continued to research in his field after retirement, and also taught at the Seismological Institute in Tokyo, and at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

He died in Auckland on 23 September,1976.