Dr. Norman A. Phillips

A theoretical meteorologist, he was the first to show, with a simple General Circulation model, that weather prediction with numerical models was even feasible. The advent of numerical weather predictions in the 1950s also signaled the transformation of weather forecasting from a highly individualistic effort to one in which teams of experts developed complex computer programs, eventually for high-speed computers. He received his B.S. from the University of Chicago in 1947 and his Ph.D. in 1951. Former Principal Scientist National Weather Service, National Meteorological Center, he was the co-recipient of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science with Dr. Joseph Smagorinsky of the NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, for their major contributions to the prediction of weather and climate using numerical methods. Their seminal and pioneering studies led to the first computer models of weather and climate, as well as to an understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere, including the transports of heat and moisture that determine the Earth's climate. In addition, his leadership fostered the development of effective methods for the use of observations in data assimilation systems, while Smagorinsky played a leading role in establishing the current global observational network for the atmosphere. In ?Turing?s Cathedral? by George Dyson his Progress report of the Meteorology Group at the IAS July 1, 1952 to September 30, 1952, he noted, ?In September of 1953 the Weather Bureau, air force, and navy agreed to establish a Joint Numerical Weather Prediction Unit, and in January of 1954 a Technical Advisory Group chaired by Von Neumann recommended the use of an IBM 701, the rental of which had been budgeted at $175,000 to $300,000 per year.?