| 1 | Name: | Dr. Warren M. Washington | |
| Institution: | National Center for Atmospheric Research | ||
| Year Elected: | 2003 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 105. Physical Earth Sciences | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1936 | ||
Warren Washington is a consultant and advisor to a number of government officials and committees on climate system modeling. From 1978 to 1984, he served on the President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. He participated in several panels of the National Research Council and chaired its Advisory Panel for Climate Puzzle, a film produced for the 1986 PBS television series Planet Earth. Washington was a member of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board from 1990 to 1993 and has been on the Secretary of Energy's Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC) since 1990. Washington was elected President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1994 and was Past President in 1995. Washington received the Charles Franklin Brooks Award from the AMS for outstanding services to the Society in January 2007. He served on the Modernization Transition Committee and the National Centers for Environment Prediction Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Weather Service. In 1998, he was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Science Advisory Board. In May of 1995, he was appointed by President Clinton to a six-year term on the National Science Board, which helps oversee the National Science Foundation and advises the Executive Branch and Congress on science related matters. In March 2000 he was nominated by President Clinton for a second six-year term and was confirmed by the Senate in September 2000. In May 2002, The National Science Board (NSB) elected Washington as its new Chair. He was re-elected to a second term two year term in May of 2004. The National Science Board has dual responsibilities as national science policy adviser to the president and Congress and as governing board for the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency. Washington's term ended on 10 May 2006. He is a Fellow of the AMS and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and from 1991 to 1995 he was a member of the AAAS Board of Directors. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of Pennsylvania State University and Oregon State University, an Alumni Fellow of Pennsylvania State University and Oregon State University, a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute, and a member of the American Geophysical Union, In 1995 Washington received the Le Verrier Medal of the Societe Meteorologique de France. In February 1997, he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences Portrait Collection of African Americans in Science, Engineering, and Medicine and in May 1997, he was awarded the Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research Program Exceptional Service Award for Atmospheric Sciences in the development and application of advanced coupled atmospheric-ocean general circulation models to study the impacts of anthropogenic activities on future climate. Also, in 1998 he delivered the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Walter Orr Roberts Distinguished Lecture and a Rice University Computer and Information Technology Institute Distinguished Lecture. In 1999, Washington received the National Weather Service Modernization Award and the American Meteorological Society's Dr. Charles Anderson Award "for pioneering efforts as a mentor and passionate support of individuals, educational programs, and outreach initiatives designed to foster a diverse population of atmospheric scientists." In March 2000, Washington received the Celebrating 20th Century Pioneers in Atmospheric Sciences Award at Howard University and in April 2000, the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Award "in recognition of significant and unique contributions in the field of science." In 2001, he gave the first Ralph W. Bromery lecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In February 2002, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced that it had elected Washington to its membership "for pioneering the development of coupled climate models, their use on parallel supercomputing architectures, and their interpretation." That same year, he was appointed to the Science Advisory Panel of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the National Academies of Science Coordinating Committee on Global Change. On April 26, 2003 Washington was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In August 2004 Washington received the Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The Vollum Award winners are selected for the perseverance, fresh approach to problems and solutions, and creative imagination. In June 2006, Washington was the commencement speaker and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Science at Oregon State University. In 2010, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Obama and in 2019 was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often referred to as the 'Nobel Prize for the environment'. In honor of his immense achievements a building in Penn State's Innovation Park was named the Warren M. Washington Building. In 2020 the American Meteorological Society created the Warren Washington Medal, to be awarded to individuals recorgnized for highly significant research and distinguished scientific leadership. He received the NCSE Lifetime Achievement Award for Science, Service, and Leadership in 2021. His current research involves the use of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) for studies of future climate change. He currently serves as a co-chair of the Climate Change Working Group within CCSM. His research is supported by NSF and the DOE. | |||