Larry Winter: NCAR's new deputy director

by David Hosansky

After an international search, NCAR has named Larry Winter, an applied mathematician at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as its new deputy director. Winter will help oversee both research and administrative initiatives in his new post.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” Winter says. “I’m looking forward to helping foster research into the many impacts of the atmosphere on other Earth systems and human society, and to bringing advanced computing to bear on these kinds of integrated systems assessments.”

An expert in hydrology, Winter has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Arizona. During his 12 years at Los Alamos, Winter led the lab’s Geoanalysis Group and its Computer Research and Applications Group.

Winter’s scientific interests include the stochastic theory of subsurface flow and transport and the applications of parallel and distributed computing in scientific research. He has also applied Lagrangian simulations (which focus on the difference between kinetic and potential energy) to modeling traffic flow for the U.S. Department of Transportation and to predicting locations in random terrain of military vehicles for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Winter’s many appointments include a recent term as science advisor to the New Mexico governor’s office. Among his honors are a Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) Publication Prize in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Operations Research and a Los Alamos Distinguished Performance Award. Winter’s outside interests include writing and the history of the American West, and he has won a Best Story of the Year award from Arizona Highways magazine.

Before coming to Los Alamos, Winter worked as chief scientist in the SAIC Advanced Computing Division in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. He has taught at Idaho State University and the University of Arizona and serves as an adjunct professor in the UA Department of Hydrology and Water Resources.