John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics.

He added the concept of hot spots, a volcanic region hotter than the surrounding mantle (as in the Hawaii hotspot).

His name was given to two young Canadian submarine volcanoes called the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts.

He became one of the first people in Canada to receive a degree in geophysics, graduating from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1930.

Wilson maintained that the Hawaiian Islands were created as a tectonic plate (extending across much of the Pacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixed hot spot, spawning a long series of volcanoes.

[10] His name was given to two young Canadian submarine volcanoes called the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts.

He is also commemorated by a named memorial professorship and an eponymous annual public lecture delivered at the University of Toronto.

Although many of his photos are geological—details of rocks and their structures or panoramas of large formations—the bulk of his photos are of the places, activities and people that he saw on his travels: landscapes, city views, monuments, sites, instruments, vehicles, flora and fauna, occupations and people.