About Our Members Q
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about our members Q Jerry D. Mahlman, that three-dimensional modeling plays in studying director of the National both regional and global pollution problems. Oceanic and Atmospheric In addition, Mahlman's deep diagnostic insight to Administration's Geo- model results contributed immensely into clarifying physical Fluid Dynamics the basic understanding of trace constituent transport Laboratory (GFDL) in in the stratosphere. This improved understanding has Princeton, New Jersey, been crucial in evaluating theories of anthropogenic, will retire from federal or human-caused, stratospheric ozone loss, and it un- service 1 October 2000. derpins our current ability to predict future ozone Born in Crawford, Ne- changes. braska, Mahlman earned his A.B. (1962) in physics Mahlman became director of GFDL in 1984 and and mathematics at nearby Chadron State College, and upheld the leadership tradition of Smagorinsky by re- a master's (1964) and doctorate (1967) in atmospheric cruiting a superbly talented group of scientists and science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, providing an intellectually stimulating environment Colorado. for them. One of the key elements to GFDL's success In 1970, Mahlman left a tenured faculty position at is Mahlman's consistent support of younger scientists. the Department of Meteorology at the U.S. Naval Post- Shortly after he became director, human-caused graduate School in Monterey, California, to join Jo- global warming surfaced as a major climate issue. seph Smagorinsky and Syukuro Manabe in their Under Mahlman's guidance, GFDL enhanced its po- pioneering efforts to develop atmospheric circulation sition as a world leader in climate change research. models at the federal government's Geophysical Fluid Over the past decade, Mahlman has played a cen- Dynamics Laboratory. Malhman's first day at GFDL tral national role in the interpretation of climate change was also the first day of NOAA—the agency was cre- research to the nonscientific community, including ated 1 October 1970. Mahlman's retirement from fed- government leaders. The laboratory had many achieve- eral service will fall on NOAA's official 30th ments under Mahlman's tenure, including the following. anniversary. During the 1970s, Mahlman was engaged in a pe- • Development of a comprehensive hurricane predic- riod of rigorous model development and is credited as tion system that is now used directly by NOAA/ the virtual founder of two branches of numerical at- NCEP and the U.S. Navy and partially by South Ko- mospheric modeling. He formulated general circula- rea and Taiwan. tion models for the simulation and understanding of • Development of the Modular Ocean Model, now the middle atmospheric circulation, and for the glo- used by more than a thousand people worldwide, bal transport of trace constituents. including most of the major modeling groups. In each of these areas, Mahlman made a number of • Development of a new Flexible Modeling System pioneering contributions to the fundamental under- that produces a unification of central weather and standing of atmospheric motions, as well as their im- climate prediction modeling capabilities, while en- pact on the transport of these constituents. These same couraging a very broad range of specific applica- numerical models have been widely imitated through- tions, ranging from global warming over hundreds out the atmospheric science community. of years to local severe weather events occurring His demonstration of the power of GCM tracer over several hours. This system encourages a broad transport simulation revolutionized the field of atmo- range of direct participation from government, aca- spheric chemistry. Every atmospheric chemistry group demic, and international scientific collaborators. in the world now recognizes the critical importance • A comprehensive, focused research program that 1372 Vol. 8 7, No. 6, June 2000 provided major world leadership in producing the international science committees and panels, includ- science base that now anchors the worldwide de- ing chairing the Scientific Advisory Committee of bates on human-caused climate warming and its NASA's Mission to Planet Earth and serving as U.S. likely impacts on life and social challenges. Delegate to the World Climate Research Program, as • Development of the first comprehensive coupled well as a number of positions within AMS. His in- atmosphere-ocean model used to demonstrate suc- volvement with AMS also includes the Committee on cessful predictions of El Nino/La Nina events a year the Upper Atmosphere (1974-80), Chair in 1979; the in advance. Awards Committee 1985, 1995, 1999; Councilor • Successful funding and procurement of three pro- 1991-1994; recipient of the Editor's Award 1978; and gressively more powerful super-computer systems Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer 1999-2000. for GFDL, thus allowing world-leading attacks on Mahlman also served on a variety of U.S. national difficult weather and climate problems. Research Council committees, including chairing the Panel for the Middle Atmosphere Research Program, Mahlman is among a handful of climate scientists and serving on the Climate Research Committee, the whose depictions of the global warming problem have U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint National Academy of Sciences gained worldwide respect. Because of his ability to Committee on Global Ecology, the Board on Global communicate accurate and understandable scientific Change, and the Board on Sustainable Development. information, he has been interviewed many times by Mahlman has frequently testified at congressional the nation's major media outlets, such as the Wash- hearings on the subjects of ozone depletion and hu- ington Post, the New York Times, USA Today, the man-caused climate change. Philadelphia Inquirer, CBS, ABC, and NBC, as well Mahlman's peers describe him as a man of unusual as The Discovery Channel and National Public Radio. scientific insight, honor, sincerity, and integrity. His In addition to publishing nearly 100 papers in sci- scientific and leadership accomplishments aside, entific publications, Mahlman was invited by the edi- tors of the journal Science to write an article, "Uncertainties in Projections of Human-Caused Cli- mate Warming" to guide the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change. WeatherJobs.com Mahlman is a fellow of the American Geophysical Find jobs! Union and of the AMS. He has received many awards and honors, including the following. Post jobs! Career Information! • The U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal Check It Out: www.weathetjobs.com (1986), "for his pioneering research and leadership in studies of the dynamics and chemistry of the middle atmosphere." AboutWeather.com • The American Geophysical Union's First Annual Jule G. Charney Lecturer Award (1993) in recog- Industry News! nition of "the top figure in his field... who can pro- Industry Events! vide a visionary overview." • The Presidential Distinguished Rank Award (1994), Directory! in recognition of "the major impact that he and his Buyer's Guide! laboratory have had on the direction of scientific Check It Out: www.aboutweather.aDm research in global processes." • The American Meteorological Society's highest honor, the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal (1994), for "pioneering work in the application of WeatherConsult.com general circulation models to the understanding of Find Consultants! stratospheric dynamics and transport." Check It Out: www.weatherconsult.com Mahlman has served on a number of national and 13 57 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society .