Jule Gregory Charney
Jule Gregory Charney (January 1, 1917 – June 16, 1981) was an American meteorologist who played an important role in developing numerical weather prediction and increasing understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere by devising a series of increasingly sophisticated mathematical models of the atmosphere. His work was the driving force behind many national and international weather initiatives and programs. Considered the father of modern dynamical meteorology, Charney is credited with having "guided the postwar evolution of modern meteorology more than any other living figure." Charney's work also influenced that of his close colleague Edward Lorenz, who explored the limitations of predictability and was a pioneer of the field of chaos theory. Biography Charney was born in San Francisco, California, on January 1, 1917, to Jewish-Russian immigrants Ely Charney and Stella Littman, tailors in the garment industry. Charney spent most of his early life in California. After a 20-month battle with cancer, he died in Boston at the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute at the age of 64. Education Charney earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at UCLA, culminating in a Ph.D. in physics in 1946. His Ph.D. dissertation, titled “The Dynamics of Long Waves in a Baroclinic Westerly Current”