Growing up in Northern Ohio provided exposure to a wide variety of weather phenomena including summer squalls off Lake Erie and lake effect snows.

In this part of the country there is no such thing as persistence forecasts. Amongst all the changes in the weather when I was there, one day stands out. While sitting in the fork of a neighbor’s tree, as nine-year-olds will do, I recall the warm, still air being interrupted by a circling wind leading to the strong rustling of leaves. The sky had turned an eerie gray green followed by lightning and thunder. A tornado was passing nearby.

In that moment I felt the great power of nature.

Two-story barracks

The old meteorology building in WWII barracks on the campus of the University of Utah.

In the mid 70s I took the opportunity to pursue my fascination with the weather along with a desire to work as either a pilot or in aerospace by studying meteorology at the University of Utah. Although other universities were closer to home, the U provided a strong academic program and was more affordable.

I really enjoyed Utah and the U. In those days Salt Lake City still had a frontier feel to it. The Browning Building almost seemed new, and our weather forecast lab was in a building that appeared to be a two-story, WWII-era barracks. Instead of air conditioning it had a swamp cooler, and the weather maps came across on a thermal printer. Weather station data came by teletype machine.

The faculty in the department, now Atmospheric Sciences, was outstanding, a veritable international “who’s who” of meteorology. Shih Kung Kao was department chair joined by Jan and Julia Paegle and a visiting professor, Wilford Zdunkowski. Most impactful to me was Kuo Nan Liou, our professor for atmospheric physics. He provided me student work within his areas of research. These experiences reinforced my learning objectives while helping me with college expenses. I also benefitted from a quarterly grant from Kennecott Copper. (Yes, back in the 70s, the U was on a quarter schedule and the Department of Meteorology was part of the College of Mines and Earth Sciences).

An applied science

Meteorology truly is an applied science. In addition to the core calculus and physics courses, the weather classes directly apply the concepts from math and science coursework. For my career, the ability to add classes in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, computer science / numerical methods and statistics and probability enabled my career work in aerospace.

I hired on with Rockwell North American Aircraft, working modeling and simulation within the defense operations research group. My career path evolved to military aircraft requirements / effectiveness analysis, future aircraft design team participation and various project management / leadership roles in design and development. Subsequently, Rockwell Defense was acquired by The Boeing Company where my career culminated in leading the Advance Airlift and Tanker organization.

Our team designed aerodynamic fairings and rugged composite landing gear door upgrades for the C-17 transport. Our responsibilities also included development of concepts for future airlift and tanker aircraft and supporting technology maturation in lightweight, high strength structures and aerodynamic technologies. Highlights included our teams’ participation in the X-31 VECTOR and X-48B flight demonstration programs.

I have never regretted my decision to leave Ohio for the Mountain West to pursue my education which launched my career. For the past few years, I have been contributing to the U’s Atmospheric Sciences Department and, more recently, to the department’s new home, the L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building, slated to open next year. It’s my way of paying back the support I received while attending the U.