Outstanding Accomplishment & Distinguished Achievement Awards

Each December since 1967, a select group of staff has been recognized with the institution's most prestigious honors, the annual Outstanding Accomplishment Awards, known as the Outstanding Performance Awards prior to 2001.

Each category within the list begins in the first year that particular award was given. Coauthors are listed with Outstanding Publication award winners. Honorable mentions have been omitted, and there may not be a winner for every award in every year.

Also see the listing of professional honors and awards presented to UCAR and NCAR staff and the list of patents held by our inventors.

Distinguished Achievement & Outstanding Accomplishment (1999 onward)

Distinguished Achievement Award

2003: Kevin Trenberth, for his publication record, which is highly influential and widely cited, as well as for his participation on a large number of professional committees and panels and his substantial contribution to public outreach and education.

2001: Timothy Brown, for his pioneering work in detecting extrasolar planets, including the first direct detection of an atmosphere on a planet outside our solar system.

Outstanding Publication

2007: Britt Stephens (EOL/TIIMES) for B. Stephens, K. Gurney, Pieter P. Tans, Colm Sweeney, Wouter Peters, Lori Bruhwiler, Philippe Ciais, Michel Ramonet, Philippe Bousquet, Takakiyo Nakazawa, Shuji Aoki, Toshinobu Machida, Gen Inoue, Nikolay Vinnichenko, Jon Lloyd, Armin Jordan, Martin Heimann, Olga Shibistova, Ray L. Langenfelds, L. Paul Steele, Roger J. Francey, and A. Scott Denning, 2007:  Weak northern and strong tropical land carbon uptake from vertical profiles of atmospheric CO2.  Science, 316, 1732-1735.

Past research has recognized that only half of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion stays there and called it the "missing carbon sink".  This paper is the first to answer what happens to that CO2—a longstanding mystery of the global carbon cycle—and concludes that this missing carbon sink does not exist.  The finding has energized the carbon cycle community to test these conclusions.

2007: Chris Snyder (ESSL/MMM) and Fuqing Zhang (Texas A&M University) for Snyder, C. and F. Zhang, 2003:  Assimilation of simulated Doppler radar observations with an ensemble Kalman filter Mon. Wea. Rev., 131, 1663-1677. This study investigates the potential of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnkF) to assimilate  convective-scale radar data and thus improve short-term modeling of thunderstorms, whereas previously the EnkF had been applied only to larger-scale flows. The paper has stimulated several research efforts applying the technique to observations, and it now serves as the proof of concept for the use of the EnkF in assimilating radar data.

2006: Jeffrey T. Kiehl and Christine A. Shields for Kiehl, J.T. and C.A. Shields, 2005: Climate simulation of the latest Permian: Implications for mass extinction. Geology, 33, 757-760.0. The jury felt that this work and the resulting publication have "turned heads" far beyond the usual range. Using the fully coupled Community Climate System Model, Kiehl and Shields produced a result that matches the geological evidence. By doing so, they demonstrated the importance of ocean circulation to life on Earth and the importance of coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling, and they made a tremendous step forward in deep-time research.

2005: Chris Davis (MMM) for the article, "Baroclinically Induced Tropical Cyclogenesis" (published in 2003 in Monthly Weather Review, 131, 2730-2747). The nomination also includes co-author Lance Bosart, University of Albany, State University of New York. This paper, which examines the transition of extratropical disturbances into Atlantic tropical cyclones, combines real-data analysis with insightful and original scientific thinking to significantly improve our understanding of the development of tropical cyclones from baroclinic influences.

2004: Thomas Horst (EOL), Don Lenschow, Chin-Hoh Moeng, and Peter Sullivan (all of MMM) for their work on two articles, “HATS: Field observations to obtain spatially filtered turbulence fields from crosswind arrays of sonic anemometers in the atmospheric surface layer” (published in 2004 in Journal of Atmospheric Science, 41, 1566–1581) and “Structure of subfilter-scale fluxes in the atmospheric surface layer with application to large-eddy simulation modeling” (published in 2003 in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 482, 101–139).

2003: Mark Rast, "The Thermal Starting Plume as an Acoustic Source," The Astrophysical Journal 524 (1), 462-468.

2002: Rit Carbone, John Tuttle, David Ahijevych, and Stanley Trier, for _Inferences of predictability associated with warm season precipitation episodes," Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 59, 2033–2056.

2001: Juanzhen "Jenny" Sun and Andrew Crook, "Dynamical and microphysical retrieval from Doppler radar observations using a cloud model and its adjoint. Part I: Model development and simulated data experiments," Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 54, 1642–1661; "Part II: Retrieval experiments of an observed Florida convective storm," Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 55, 835–852, and "Real-time low-level wind and temperature analysis using single WSR-88D data," Weather and Forecasting 16, 117–132.

2000: Roy Rasmussen, Jothiram Vivekanandan, and Jeff Cole, "Common snowfall conditions associated with aircraft takeoff accidents," Journal of Aircraft 37, 110-116, and "The estimation of snowfall rate using visibility," Journal of Applied Meteorology 38, 1542Ä1563.

1999: Hans De Sterck and Boon Chye Low (NCAR) and Stefaan Poedts (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), "Complex magnetohydrodynamic bow shock topology in field-aligned low-beta flow around a perfectly conducting cylinder," Physics of Plasma 5(11),4015-4027.

Education and Outreach

2008: Don Murray, Jeff McWhirter and Yuan Ho (Unidata) for the design, development, support and advancement of the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) to foster education and outreach in the geosciences.  The IDV has revolutionized the way educators visualize and analyze geoscience data and has transformed the learning environment by allowing students to easily access the same databases used by scientists and forecasters inside and outside the classroom. 

2007: Laura Curtis, Jeff Fiedler, Gloria Kelly, and Cindy Schmidt (UCAR/OGA) for their role in educating Congress about our community’s scientific research through UCAR briefings on Capitol Hill over the past five years.

2006: Linda Carbone (EO), Tim Barnes (EO), William Bradley (ACD), Janine Goldstein (EOL), Dolores Kiessling (COMET), Dennis Ward (EO) and Jeff Weber (Unidata) for hosting Super Science Saturday.

2005: SCD's Dianne Bernier, John Clyne, Susan Cross, Joey Mendoza, Don Middleton, Darin Oman, and Tim Scheitlin of the Visualization Lab Outreach Program. Using advanced visualization techniques, the vislab staff provide unique educational presentations and outreach material on a creative, three-dimensional display that engages and educates audiences of all ages and levels of scientific understanding.

2004: Anatta, Bob Henson, Carlye Calvin, Zhenya Gallon, Nicole Gordon, David Hosansky, Yvonne Mondragon, Nita Razo, Sonja Stevenson, and Lucy Warner (Communications) and Mike Shibao (Imaging and Design Center), for consistent, award-winning work in publicizing achievements of UCAR, NCAR, and the atmospheric sciences for broad audiences ranging from the community to the public.

2003: Peter Burkholder, Lynne Davis, Ryan Deardorff, Holly Devaul, Kathryn Ginger, Eileen McIlvain, John Weatherley, and Marianne Weingroff, for adding major new functionality and enhancement to the Digital Library for Earth System Education, enabling it to better support the geosciences education community.

2002: Cindy Schmidt, for her work on numerous initiatives to enhance the public's understanding of scientific, technical, and societal issues in the atmospheric and related sciences.

2001: Morris Weisman, for synthesizing advances in convective-storm research, developing innovative teaching materials, and instructing both operational forecasters and university students.

2000: Karon Kelly, for her leadership and extraordinary service in initiating and sustaining K–12 and public science education efforts.

1999: Bev Lynds for her contributions to science education, culminating in the creation of the Skymath teaching modules.

Scientific and Technical Advancement

2008: Gary New and Julie Harris (CISL); Steven Haynes, Dave Patterson, Dave Maddy, Brian McMillan, John Adamson, Matt Monahan, Dave Heckel, Gordon Kinn, John Harkness, Sandra Sundquist, Leonard Cooper, Bruce Kovalski, and Keith White (Physical Plant Services); Peter Chamberlain (Business Services); and Bart Woodiel (EOL) for designing, implementing, and commissioning significant new ML infrastructure as part of the Bluefire Facilities Infrastructure Team.  Working within a very tight design and delivery schedule, BFIT effectively and efficiently solved numerous technical problems – including frequent scope changes from IBM, discovery and remediation of insufficient facility capabilities, and innovative fabrication techniques – and completed the project on time and under budget.

2007: Bill Kuo, Chris Rocken, Sergey Sokolovskiy, Stig Syndergaard, Bill Schreiner, Doug Hunt, Tae-Kwon Wee, Lidia Cucurull, James Johnson, Karl Hudnut, and Maggie Sleziak-Sallee (UOP/COSMIC), and Dave Ector (formerly with UOP/COSMIC) for UCAR’s portion of the design, execution and deployment of the six-satellite FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission. COSMIC is now averaging 1600 radio occultation soundings with global coverage to support atmospheric research and operational numerical weather prediction, climate monitoring, and space weather forecasting.

2006: ACD's John Gille, David Edwards, Merritt Deeter, Dan Ziskin, Barb Tunison, Dan Packman, Gene Francis, Juying Warner, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Valery Yudin, Boris Khattatov, Louisa Emmons, Shu-peng (Ben) Ho, Gabriele Pfister, Jean-Luc Attie, Debbie Mao, Jarmei Chen, Cheryl Craig and Charles Cavanaugh of the MOPITT (Measurement Of Pollution In The Troposphere) team. The MOPITT team is recognized for its outstanding leadership, from the conception of the project through instrument design, algorithm development, and operational data processing to the resulting significant scientific analysis.

2005: David Brown, Fred Clare, Richard Grubin, Mary Haley, and David Kennison (all in SCD), Sylvia Murphy (ACD), and Dennis Shea (CGD) for the development of the NCAR Command Language. The NCL is a data analysis and visualization tool that enables scientists to easily and effectively access, analyze, and visualize geoscientific data on platforms ranging from personal systems to supercomputers.

2004: John Michalakes (MMM) for his pioneering work in developing the software infrastructure for the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) modeling system.

2003: David Allen, Jeff Bobka, Clarke Chambellan, Jerry Dryer, James Ellis, Ken Harris, Walt Hodshon, Ed Mores, Steve Palmer, Steve Rauenbuehler, José Rivas, Karl Schwenz, and Bart Woodiel, for executing three separate, exceptionally complex and urgent projects for NCAR's Design and Fabrication Services during the last three years.

2002: Bill Mahoney, Mike Dixon, Deirdre Garvey, Frank Hage, Celia Chen, David Johnson, Niles Oien, Susan Dettling, Carol Park, Jordan Powers, Bill Kuo, Jim Bresch, Dale Barker, and Al Bourgeois, for designing, developing, and deploying the Advanced Operational Aviation Weather System.

2001: Scott Swerdlin, Tom Warner, Cindy Mueller, Laurie Carson, Yubao Liu, Doug Lindholm, Rebecca Ruttenberg, Tom Saxen, Hank Fisher, Daran Rife, Troy Sandblom, Julien Chastang, David Hahn, Hsiao-Ming Hsu, Rong-Shyang Sheu, Steve Webb, David Leberknight, Fei Chen, Niles Oien, Jaimi Yee, Terri Betancourt, Carter Borst, Chris Davis, Simon Low-Nam, Al Bourgeois, and Kevin Manning, for their work in designing, developing, and implementing a Four-Dimensional Weather (4DWX) system.

2000: Jon Lutz, Brian Lewis, Michl Howard, Paul Johnson, Mitch Randall, Eric Loew, Bob Rilling, Dick Oye, Mike Strong, Al Phinney, Joe Vinson, and Bart Woodiel, for development of the S-Pol weather radar.

1999: Greg Thompson, Paddy McCarthy, Frank Hage, and Shelly Knight for the development of the Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS).

Administrative Achievement

2008: Jeff Reaves, Gina Taberski, Amy Smith, Meg McClellan, Kim Prinzi-Kimbro, and Ingrid Moore for their work on COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate/Formosa Satellite Mission #3).  This team assumed overall leadership for the program, continually evaluated and effectively managed the risks, negotiated the numerous agreements among the various parties (including the government of Taiwan), and engaged in extensive shuttle diplomacy to resolve the many issues that arose.  Unprecedented for UCAR in its complexity and magnitude, this program required a great deal of creativity and innovation to manage the financial, contractual, and legal risks that it posed. 

2007: Bev Broach (F&A), Jeff Custard (CISL/OSD), Lisha Kramer (F&A), Marla Meehl (CISL/OSD), Amy Bauer-Moore (CISL/AD), Gina Taberski (F&A), and David Waltman (CISL) for the development of the UCAR Point of Presence (UPoP) entity, a consortium of Colorado educational, nonprofit, and government entities that share wide-area networking services and access to the National LambdaRail.

2005: Geoff Cheeseman (EOL) and Pat Munson (F&A) for professional excellence and innovativeness demonstrated during the acquisition of the HIAPER aircraft.

2003: Peggy Taylor, for her professional excellence associated with field deployment logistics for four field programs, all of which proved exceptionally challenging.

2002: Marla Meehl, Scot Colburn, and Pete Siemsen, for founding and operating the Front Range GigaPOP.

2001: Dan Wilson, for innovative analyses of financial tools that have saved UCAR more than $4 million.

2000: Steve Hinson, Vance Howard, Karl Werner, Karla Edwards, Rich Johnson, Kristian Woyna, Kevin Welsh, Shelley Richards-Craig, and Barb Bunting, for creating and implementing the automated time-card reporting system.

Mentoring

2008: Chris Davis (ESSL/MMM) for mentoring efforts that have influenced and motivated numerous graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and junior scientists.  Chris has had – and continues to have – a significant impact on the professional development of individuals both within NCAR and the university community at large.  He is relentless in providing encouragement and supportive leadership to his protégés in ways that lead them to think for themselves. 

2006: William "Al" Cooper (EOL). From 1996-2005, Al was director of the Advanced Study Program (ASP), where he mentored a long stream of postdoctoral fellows who are still deeply indebted to him. Al is a master at helping graduate students orchestrate smooth transitions to mature scientists. Al was also the driving force behind the creation of NCAR’s Thompson Lecture Series and the Junior Faculty Forum on Future Scientific Directions.

2005: Chris Snyder (MMM) for his exceptional mentoring of postdoctoral researchers, early career scientists, and graduate students. Chris mentors in many ways: patiently introducing junior scientists to new scientific areas, providing a clear and positive example of how to frame and approach research questions, and building mentees’ capacities to address their own research interests.

2004: Jim Wilson (EOL/RAL) for providing meaningful mentorship to a broad range of people, from junior and senior scientists, administrators, and engineers to various levels of students. Jim transcends cultural, gender, job classification, divisional, institutional, and national boundaries to identify and encourage the special talents of others.

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Outstanding Publication

1967: Harry van Loon, "The half-yearly oscillation in middle and high southern latitudes and the coreless winter," Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (JAS) 24 (1967), 472-486

1968: J. Doyne Sartor, "The role of particle interactions in the distribution of electricity in thunderstorms," JAS 24 (1967), 601- 615

1969: Ed Zipser, "The role of organized unsaturated convective downdrafts in the structure and rapid decay of an equatorial disturbance," Journal of Applied Meteorology (JAM) 8 (1969), 799-814

1970: Charles and Nancy Knight, "Hailstone embryos," JAS 27 (1970), 659-666; "Lobe structure of hailstones," JAS 27 (1970), 667-671; "The falling behavior of hailstones," JAS 27 (1970), 672- 681

1971: Robert Dickinson, "Analytical model for zonal winds in the tropics," Monthly Weather Review (MWR) 99 (1971)

1972 (dual awards): Art Hundhausen, Coronal Expansion and Solar Wind (New York: Springer-Verlaug, 1972), volume 5 in the series Physics and Chemistry in Space

1972 (dual awards): James Deardorff, "Numerical investigations of neutral and unstable planetary boundary layers," JAS 29 (1972), 91-115

1973: Rainer Bleck, "Numerical forecasting experiments based on the conservation of potential vorticity on isentropic surfaces," JAM 12 (1973), 737-752

1974: Al Cooper, "A possible mechanism for contact nucleation," JAS 31 (1974), 1832-1837

1975: Gerald North, "Analytical solution to a simple climate model with diffusive heat transport," JAS 32 (1975), 1301-1307; and "Theory of energy-balance climate models," JAS 32 (1975), 2033- 2043

1976: Joseph Klemp and Douglas Lilly, "The dynamics of wave- induced downslope winds," JAS 32 (1976), 320-339

1977 (dual awards): James McWilliams, "Maps from the mid-ocean dynamics experiment, part II: potential vorticity and its conservation," Journal of Physical Oceanography 6 (1976), 824-846

1977(dual awards): Arthur Hundhausen, "An interplanetary review of coronal holes," Coronal Holes and High Speed Wind Streams, ed. Jack Zirker (Boulder, Colo.: University of Colorado Press, 1977)

1978: Grant Athay, The Solar Chromosphere and Corona: The Quiet Sun (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: D. Reidel, 1976)

1979 (dual awards): Joseph Klemp and Robert Wilhelmson, "The simulation of three- dimensional convective storm dynamics," JAS 35 (1978), p. 1070- 1096; "Simulations of right- and left-moving storms produced through storm splitting," JAS 35 (1978), 1907-1110; "A numerical study of storm splitting that leads to long-lived storms," JAS 35 (1978), p. 1974-1986

1979 (dual awards): Dimitri Mihalas, Stellar Atmospheres, 2nd ed. (San Francisco, Calif.: W. H. Freeman, 1978)

1980 (dual awards): William Holland (with Peter Rhines), "An example of eddy-induced ocean circulation," Journal of Physical Oceanography 10 (1980), 1010-1031

1980 (dual awards): Raymond Roble (with Paul Hays), "A quasi-static model of global atmospheric electricity. 1: The lower atmosphere," JGR 84 (1979), 3291-3305; "2: Electrical coupling between the upper and lower atmosphere," JGR 84 (1979), 7247-7256

1981 (dual awards): V. Ramanathan, "The role of ocean-atmospheric interaction in the CO2 climate problem, " JAS 38 (1981), 918-930

1981 (dual awards): Melvyn Shapiro, "Frontogenesis and geostrophically forced secondary circulations in the vicinity of jet-stream frontal zone systems," JAS 38 (1981), 955-973

1982: Boon-Chye Low, "Nonlinear force-free magnetic fields," Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics 20 (1982), 145-159

1983 (dual awards): Victor Pizzo, "A three-dimensional model of corotating streams in the solar wind. 1: Theoretical foundations," JGR 83 (1978), 5563-5572; "2: Hydrodynamic streams," JGR 85 (1980), 727-743; "3: Magnetohydrodynamic streams," JGR 87 (1982), 4374-4394; Pizzo (with R. Schween, E. Marsch, H. Rosenbauer, K.-H. M¤hlhïuser, and F. M. Neubaue), "Determination of the solar wind angular momentum flux from the Helios data--an observation test of the Weber and Davis theory," Astrophysical Journal 271 (1983), 335-354

1983 (dual awards): Joseph Tribbia, "On variational normal mode initialization," MWR 110 (1982), 455-470; Tribbia, David Williamson, and Roger Daley: "A unified analysis-initialization technique," MWR 111 (1983), 1517- 1536

1984: James Coakley and Francis Bretherton, "Cloud cover from high-resolution scanner data: detecting and allowing for partially filled fields of view, " JGR 87 (1982), 4917-4932; Coakley, "Properties of multilayered cloud systems from satellite imagery," JGR 88 (1983), 10818-10828; Coakley and Daniel Baldwin, "Towards the objective analysis of clouds from satellite imagery data," Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology 23 (1984), 1065-1099

1985 (dual awards): Dimitri and Barbara Mihalas, Foundation of Radiation Hydrodynamics (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1984)

1985 (dual awards): Maurice Blackmon, John Geisler, Gary Bates, and Salvador Mu_oz (with Eric Pitcher), "A general circulation model study of January climate anomaly patterns associated with interannual variation of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures, " JAS 40 (1983) 1410-1425; Blackmon, Bates, Geiser, and Munoz, "Sensitivity of January climate response to the magnitude and position of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies," JAS 42 (1985) 1037-1049

1986 (dual awards): James Dye (with J. Jones, W. Winn, T. Cerni, B. Gardiner, D. Lamb, R. Pitter, J. Hallett, and C. Saunders), "Early electrification and precipitation development in a small, isolated Montana cumulonimbus," JGR 91 (1986), 1231-1247

1986 (dual awards): Gary Klaassen and Terry Clark, "Dynamics of the cloud-environment interface and entrainment in small cumuli: Two-dimensional simulations in the absence of ambient shear," JAS 42 (1985), 2621- 2642

1987 (dual awards):Richard Harrison, "Solar Coronal Mass Ejections and Flares," Astronomy and Astrophysics 162 (1986), 283-291

1987 (dual awards): Allan Lazrus and Gregory Kok (with Sonia Gitlin and John Lind), "Automated fluorometric method for hydrogen peroxide in atmospheric precipitation," Analytical Chemistry 57 (1985), 917-922; Lazrus, Kok, and Brian Heikes (with Gitlin, Lind, and Richard Shetter), "Automated fluorometric method for hydrogen peroxide in air," Analytical Chemistry 58 (1986), 594-597; Kok and Lazrus (with Kathleen Thompson), "Derivatization technique for the determination of peroxides in precipitation," Analytical Chemistry 58 (1986), 1192- 1194; Heikes, Kok, and Lazrus (with James Walega), "H202, O3, and SO2 measurements in the lower troposphere over the eastern United States during fall," JGR 92 (1987), 915-931

1988 (dual awards): Boon-Chye Low, "Electric current sheet formation in a magnetic field induced by continuous magnetic footpoint displacements," Astrophysical Journal 323 (1987), 358-367; and Low and R. Wolfson, "Spontaneous formation of electric current sheets and the origins of solar flares," Astrophysical Journal 324 (1988), 574- 781

1988 (dual awards): Piotr Smolarkiewicz, Roy Rasmussen, and Terry Clark (MMM), "On the dynamics of Hawaiian cloud bands: Island forcing," JAS 43 (1986), 1872-1905

1989: Chin-Hoh Moeng and John Wyngaard, "Statistics of conservative scalars in the convective boundary layer," JAS 41 (1984), 3161-3169; "Analysis of closures for pressure-scalar covariances in the convective boundary layer," JAS 43 (1986), 2499-2513; "Spectral analysis of large-eddy simulations of the convective boundary layers," JAS 45 (1988), 3573-3587; "Evaluation of turbulent transport and dissipation closures in second-order modeling" JAS 46 (1989), 2311- 2330

1990: Rolando Garcia (with Susan Solomon, George Reid, and Susan Avery), "Transport of nitric oxide and the D. region winter anomaly," JGR 92 (1987), 977-994

1991: Andrew Crook (with Terry Clark and Mitchell Moncrieff), "The Denver cyclone. Part I: Generation in low Froude number flow," JAS 47 (1990), 2725-2742; and "The Denver cyclone, Part II: Interaction with the convective boundary layer," JAS 48 (1991), 2109-2126

1992: Ralph Keeling and Stephen Shertz, "Seasonal and interannual variations in atmospheric oxygen and implications for the global carbon cycle," Nature 358 (1992), 723-727

1993: Chris Davis, "A potential-vorticity diagnosis of the importance of initial structure and condensation heating in observed extratropical cyclogenesis," MWR 120 (1992), 2409-2428

1994: Ying-Hwa (Bill) Kuo, Simon Low-Nam, and Richard Reed, "Thermal structure and airflow in a model simulation of an occluded marine cyclone," MWR 120 (1992), 2280-2297

1995: Guy Brasseur and Claire Granier, "Mount Pinatubo aerosols, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone depletion," Science 257 (1992), 1239-1242

1996: Steve Tomczyk, "An instrument to observe low-degree solar oscillations" (with Kim Streander, Greg Card, David Elmore, Howard Hull, and Alessandro Cacciani), Solar Physics 159 (1995), 1-21, and "Measurement of the rotation rate in the deep solar interior" (with Jesper Schou and Michael Thompson), Astrophysical Journal 488 (1995), L57-L60

1997: James Hurrell, "Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]: regional temperatures and precipitation," Science 269 (1995), 676-679, and "Influence of variations in extratropical wintertime teleconnections on Northern Hemisphere temperature," Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) 23 (1996), 665-668.

1998: Lynn Russell (NCAR/Princeton University), Don Lenschow, and Krista Laursen, for contributions to "Bidirectional mixing in an ACE-1 marine boundary layer overlain by a second turbulent layer," Journal of Geophysical Research 103, No. D13 (1998), 16,411-16,432.

Technology Advancement

1973: Bob MacQueen, Jack Eddy, Jack Gosling, Ernie Hildner, Gordon Newkirk, Stu Borland, and Charles Ross, for their White Light Coronagraph Experiment for the Apollo Telescope Mount aboard Skylab

1974: Richard Barthuly, Harold Cole, Dan Evans, P. K. Govind, Robert King, Bryan Lee, Dale McKay, Kenneth Norris, Julian Pike, and George Saum, for dropwindsonde development for the Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment

1975: Charles Frush, for the redesign and development of the 60- inch ruby lidar

1976: Thomas Baur, for instrumentation development on the Stokes polarimeter

1977: David Robertson and Thomas Wright, for their development of the NCAR computer graphics software system

1978: John Gille, Paul Bailey, Stanley Nolte, and Douglas Roewe, for their work on limb-viewing techniques for the LIMS (Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere) satellite

1979: Arden Buck, for his development of the NCAR Lyman- alpha hygrometer

1980: Victor Borgogno and Robert Brown, for developing the Research Data Support System

1981: Richard Oye, for developing software to edit data generated by Doppler radar

1982: Charles Frush, for his work on NCAR's Doppler radars

1983: Dennis Knowlton, for his role in the design and construction of the airborne data system used in NCAR aircraft

1984: Neil Carlson, Dean Lauritsen, Justin Smalley, Sig Stenlund, and Marcel Verstraete, for their contributions to the Electrodynamics in the Middle Atmosphere program

1985: Fred Brock, Michl Howard, Steven Semmer, and George Saum, for their leadership in the design and development of the second- generation portable automated mesonet

1986: Timothy Brown, David Elmore, Howard Hull, Terry Leach, Gregory Muir, Paula Rubin, Kim Streander, Peter Bandurian, and Daniel Haynes, for developing the Fourier tachometer

1987: William Mankin and Michael Coffey, for developing the enhanced airborne spectrometer system used in the Antarctic Ozone Hole Experiment

1988: Cleon Biter, Jon Lutz, Gerry Wiener, Bob Barron, Kristi Brislawn, and Dave Albo, for developing a display system for the terminal Doppler weather radar

1989: Dean Lauritsen, Tom Gardner, Terry Hock, Vin Lally, Ken Norris, and Sig Stenlund, for creation of the lightweight long-range aid to navigation (Loran) digital dropwindsonde

1990: Paul Spyers-Duran, David McFarland, and Herminio Avila, for developing the airborne cryogenic frost-point hygrometer

1991: Joost Businger, Tony Delany, Charlie Martin, and Steve Semmer, for development of the Atmosphere-Surface Turbulent Exchange Research Facility

1992: Charlie Martin, Terry Hock, Anne-Leslie Barrett, Hal Cole, Mike Spowart, Michl Howard, Warner Ecklund, John Wilson, and David Carter, for developing the integrated sounding system network used in TOGA COARE

1993: Ron Errico, Greg Card, Clarke Chambellan, David Elmore, Howard Hull, Terry Leach, Paula Rubin, and Kim Streander, for development of the advanced Stokes polarimeter

1994: Keith Barr, Darrel Baumgardner, Jim Dye, Bruce Gandrud, Robert Knollenberg, Aref Nammari, Diana Rogers, and Kim Weaver, for development of the multiangle spectrometer probe

1995: Chuck Frush, Peter Hildebrand, Wen-Chau Lee, Eric Loew, Richard Neitzel, Rick Parsons, Mitch Randall, and Craig Walther, for development of the Electra Doppler Radar (ELDORA)

1996: Mitch Randall, Eric Loew, and Joe Vinson, for development of the PC integrated radar acquisition (PIRAQ) board and the VMEBus integrated acquisition (VIRAQ) board

1997: Mike Exner, Doug Hunt, Chris Rocken, Bill Schreiner, Randolph Ware, Bill Kuo, Xiaolei Zou, Da Sheng Feng, Ben Herman, Tom Meehan, and Sergey Sokolovskiy, for the design, development, and operation of the Global Positioning System/Meteorology (GPS/MET) payload on the MicroLab-1 satellite and associated software

1998: Terry Hock, Hal Cole, Dean Lauritsen, Ken Norris, Ned Chamberlain, Errol Korn, and Chip Owens (NCAR) and Jim Franklin, Alan Goldstein, and Jeff Smith (NOAA), for development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) dropsonde system

Technical Support (Research Support Award until 1981)

1972: Robert McBeth, for his achievement in supporting 155 days of field work composed of seven programs

1973: Ray Walling, for printing and reproduction support

1974: Toni Chapman (now Biter), for her support to the National Hail Research Experiment

1975: K. Redman, for her general support to NCAR as a senior editor

1976 (dual awards): Harold Cole, for his support to the Viking project meteorological team

1976 (dual awards): Dorothy Trotter, for her contributions to analysis of scientific data in solar physics

1977 (dual awards): Edward Elsberry and Michl Howard, for designing and supervising construction of the van for carrying the portable automated mesonet (PAM)

1977 (dual awards): Vonda Giesey, for general administrative support, including conference management

1978: Justin Kitsutaka, for his long history of support in both technical and administrative areas

1979: Lynn Post, for her organization and direction of the Word- Processing Committee

1980: Dean Frey, Dennis Joseph, Paul Mulder, Wilbur Spangler, and Gregg Walters, for preparing a complete and accessible meteorological data set

1981 (dual awards): Raymond Bovet, for developing the software for the Mesoscale Research Section's VAX 11/780 minicomputer

1981 (dual awards): Frank Grahek, for designing a system that allowed for the first measurements of total elemental chlorine

1982: Marvin "Bud" Hewitt, for his long service to NCAR

1983: Richard Lueb, for 20 years of developing varied sampling and telemetry systems

1984: Norm Zrubek, for 16 years of sustained contribution in support of the users of NCAR research aircraft

1985: Walter Grotewold, for 21 years of design and fabrication services

1986: Gilbert Summers, for his exceptional performance during the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment and the Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment

1987: Dennis Joseph, for his work in adapting and moving to NCAR a data set of satellite observations

1988 (dual awards): Bill Bragg, for delivering high-quality field support to NCAR's facility users

1988 (dual awards): Bob Lee, for 40 years of support to HAO

1989: Ed Ringleman, Bob Carl, Harold Barber, and Jim Lundahl, for long-term accomplishment in maintaining NCAR's air fleet

1990: Dick Bobka, for 22 years of supporting field programs and maintaining equipment for ATD

1991: Errol Korn, Cathy Irwin, Kurt Knudson, and Carmen Paneitz, for deploying and maintaining surface and sounding systems

1992: Ron Murdock, Kendall Southwick, Mark Bradford, Ken Scully, and Wayne Brazille, for data management achievements in the Stormscale Operational and Research Meteorology Program's Fronts Experiment Systems Test

1993: Edward Brown, for 30 years of support to RAF

1994: Jon Corbet, for planning and execution of computer network support for TOGA COARE

1995: Mitch Baltuch, Glenn Davis, Steve Emmerson, and Robb Kambic, for designing, developing, and deploying the Unidata Internet Data Distribution system

1996: (tie) Ben Foster, for his support in development of HAO's series of thermospheric general circulation models, and

1996: (tie) Jeff Cole, for developing and supporting RAP's Snowfall Test Site at Marshall

1997: Norm Zrubek, for 30 years of dedication and technical excellence in aeronautical engineering at NCAR's Research Aviation Facility

1998: Rich Lueb (ACD) for the design and construction of whole-air sampling systems for two stratospheric aircraft, modification of existing instruments, and field deployment

Administrative Support

1982: Rose Bridgewater, for her years of service as manager of NCAR's Office Services Department

1983 (dual awards): Barry White, for 15 years of service as the painter of the Mesa Lab walls

1983 (dual awards): Teresa LaCrue (now Rivas), for her administrative service and acumen

1984 (dual awards): Nelder Medrud, for his sustained history of service over 18 years

1984 (dual awards): Jeff Reaves for his work in contract administration

1985: Landis Parsons, for his work as contracts officer

1986: David Waltman, for 20 years of outstanding service to NCAR

1987: Lainie Clark, for her work in administering annual blanket orders

1988: Glenn Pursifull, for sustained performance as NCAR's lead stationary engineer

1989: Steve Sadler, for overseeing asbestos removal at the Mesa Lab

1990: Ed Aden, for his operation of the NCAR electronics store over 23 years

1991: Doug Chaney and Stan McLaughlin, for designing and developing SCD's System Configuration and Interconnection Document

1992: Brigitte Baeuerle, for her work on international logistics of TOGA COARE

1993: Velma Ryan, for her management of the NCAR cafeteria at the Mesa and Foothills laboratories

1994: Beth Stansberry, for procurement and support for the RAF Research Aircraft Restructuring Program and other ATD activities

1995: Greg McArthur, for his leadership and contributions in World Wide Web technology at NCAR and UCAR

1996: Anita Monk and Teresa Shibao, for devising and implementing the new long-distance call accounting system

1997: Aaron Andersen, for the design, development, and implementation of NCAR's Web-based Room Reservation System

1998: Eron Brennan, for development of UCAR's multimedia capabilities.

Education

1995: Peggy LeMone, for more than two decades of contributions toward numerous educational endeavors at all grade levels

1996: Jack Fox and Jim Holt, for their contribution to the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) initiative

1997: Bob Henson, for his creative writings and presentations on atmospheric science over the past eight years

1998: Raj Pandya (ASP/MMM), Kevin Petty (ASP/RAP), and Charlie Knight (MMM), for significant contributions to bringing current knowledge on weather and climate to teachers throughout Colorado through NCAR's Project LEARN (Laboratory Experience in Atmospheric Research at NCAR).

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A note on the first award

In his desire to recognize scientific excellence, Walt Roberts backed up words with action. The founding director of NCAR put up $500 of his own money in 1967 as the prize for the first Outstanding Publication award. Walt also laid out many of the broad guidelines that evolved into today's award criteria (though the initial period of eligibility for a paper was only two years, as opposed to today's five years). "It is my sincere hope," wrote Walt in a memo to staff, "that nominations will be made by scientists not only for the works of their colleagues, but also for their own scientific papers. It seems to me entirely appropriate for a scientist to mention one of his own publications, if he deems it to be his outstanding piece of work. . . ."

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Nomination process

Any employee may initiate a nomination; the nomination must be coordinated with and submitted by the directors and managers specified in UCAR's Employee Recognition Awards Policy 6-14. Review is by an interdivisional committee. Winners of Outstanding Accomplishment Awards receive cash awards and medals.

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