Jerome Namias

".

Namias was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Namias studied at the University of Michigan and joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1936 as research assistant. In the 1930s he studied the phenomena of the Dust Bowl. In 1941 he received his Master's degree degree from the American Institute of Aerodynamics and Astronautics [http://www.aiaa.org] .

From 1941 to 1971 he was Chief of the Extended Forecast Division of the U.S. Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service). In the 1940s he developed the 5-day-forecast, and month and season forecasts in the 1960s. Further, he was responsible for forecasting for the Allies during World War II in Northern Africa.

Namias helped to develop the system of passenger flight weather forecasting, and researched the interaction between the oceans and atmosphere. He was involved in the research of the "El Niño" phenomena in the Pacific Ocean and its relevance to the world climate.

In 1971 he joined the Scripps Institution and established the first Experimental Climate Research Center. [http://ecpc.ucsd.edu] His prognosis of warm weather during the Arab oil embargo of 1973 greatly aided domestic policy response.

He received many honors and awards, including election into the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He won the Gold Medal of the U.S. Department of Commerce for distinguished achievement. He published more than 200 papers and worked in the field of meteorology until 1989.

He died of pneumonia in 1997.

External links

* [http://www-tech.mit.edu/V117/N4/namias.4n.html MIT-side of Namias]
* [http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/jnamias.html Biographical Memoir] by John O. Roads
* [http://ecpc.ucsd.edu/general/pics/jnamias2.html Portrait] from his biography, at Experimental Climate Prediction Center (SIO)