Melville Bell Grosvenor

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Melville Bell Grosvenor (1901-1982) was the president of the National Geographic Society and editor of National Geographic Magazine from 1957 to 1969. He was the son of the magazine's first editor Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, and the grandson of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.

A photography enthusiast, he increased the size of printed photographs in the magazine, and initiated the practice, that continues to this day, of opening articles with a two-page photo feature. He reduced the name of the publication from The National Geographic Magazine to National Geographic. Under Melville's tenure, National Geographic also began to branch out from land expeditions to cover investigations into space and the deep sea.

Melville expanded the scope of the society's operations, branching into the production of documentaries bearing the National Geographic name, which began airing on television. Four of these were produced per year. Among the features produced during Melville's presidency, were documentaries covering the first American expedition to Mount Everest and Jacques Cousteau's underwater exploits.

His son, Gilbert Melville Grosvenor, edited the magazine in the 1970s and 80s.

[edit] Further reading

• Poole, Robert M. Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made. New York: Penguin, 2004. {ISBN|1594200327}