Background
Stephenson was born in Norwich, England and was educated at Norwich School.
Stephenson was born in Norwich, England and was educated at Norwich School.
At age 12 he attended a public lecture given by Ernest Shackleton which inspired his interest in the polar regions.
He went on to study geography at Street Catharine"s College, Cambridge where he befriended Frank Debenham who had been on the Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott between 1910–1913. Following graduation Stephenson joined the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to Greenland as chief surveyor. In 1934 he was chief surveyor and meteorologist of the British Graham Land Expedition in the Antarctic.
During the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force as chief instructor at the Central Allied Photo Interpretation Unit.
Foreign his work in training interpreters and helping to develop new photographic interpretation techniques he was awarded an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 1945 he joined Imperial College London, where he was involved in teaching and research until his retirement in 1972. From 1956 to 1996 he was the honorary secretary of the Antarctic Club.
Mount Stephenson, the highest peak (3,100 m) in the Douglas Range of Antarctica, and Stephenson Nunatak, in the southeast part of Alexander Island are named after him.
In 1932 he was a member of the British Polar Year Expedition.