He was chairman of the [[Scott Polar Research Institute]] (SPRI) and president of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] from 1951 to 1954. During his term at the Society he helped plan the first successful ascent of [[Mount Everest]] by [[Edmund Hillary]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]]. While at SPRI, he assisted Fuchs in the first-ever [[Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition|crossing of the Antarctic continent]] — the original aim of Shackleton's Endurance expedition. He also contributed to the British [[Naval Intelligence Handbooks|Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series]] that was published during the Second World War.