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What’s in a Name?

September 10, 2017

In 1983, an early version of the deep-sea vehicle Alvin was lifted from its tender, R/V Lulu, onto the WHOI dock in front of the Bigelow Laboratory. More than 30 years later, both Alvin and the Bigelow lab continue to play a critical role in supporting WHOI research—although those for whom they were named are gone. The Bigelow Laboratory was named for Henry Bryant Bigelow, the founding director of WHOI and a pioneer of oceanographic research. Alvin was christened after Allyn Vine, a former naval researcher and WHOI scientist who helped spearhead the development of human-occupied submersibles as a method of deep-sea exploration. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)