Grosvenor was a member of the Class of 1923.
Melville Grosvenor's mother, Elsie May Bell Grosvenor (right), and grandparents, Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell, visit him at the U.S. Grosvenor, first Editor of the National Geographic Magazine, 1902. Among the features produced during Grosvenor's presidency were documentaries covering the first American expedition to Mount Everest and Jacques Cousteau's underwater exploits.Įarly life Young Melville Grosvenor is held by his father, Gilbert H. Grosvenor expanded the scope of the society's operations, branching into the production of documentaries bearing the National Geographic name, which began airing on television. Under Grosvenor's tenure, National Geographic also began to branch out from land expeditions to cover investigations into space and the deep sea. He reduced the name of the publication from The National Geographic Magazine to National Geographic. He was the grandson of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.Ī 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. Melville Bell Grosvenor (Novem– April 22, 1982) was the president of the National Geographic Society and editor of The National Geographic Magazine from 1957 to 1967.
