American Meteorology Society honors Dr. Richard Orville

The head of Texas A&M University’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. Richard Orville, was named recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology by the American Meteorological Society, on February 1st at the annual meeting of the AMS in Atlanta, GA.

Dr. Orville was awarded this honor based in his groundbreaking research in the field of lightning detection. Dr. Orville’s accomplishments span over 20 years, as he spearheaded studies regarding the physics of lightning that went on to become the primary data upon which the current National Lightning Detection Network has been established. This system is a significant source for researchers to understand lightning, as it is set up in 48 states within the U.S. and several provinces in Canada to keep records of every strike of lightning that hits the ground in the U. S. and Canada. This system is a resource that is frequently used by weather organizations, the media and the military.

In a recent interview with Texas A&M University relations, Dr. Orville said this award was particularly meaningful to him because it came from distinguished scientists within his field. “The award is especially pleasing because it is voted on by my peers,” Orville said. “There are some very bright people in the American Meteorological Society, so I am deeply honored.”

The love for researching the weather is all in the family for Dr. Orville; his father, a past president of the AMS, was the U.S. Navy’s chief weatherman during World War II. Additionally, Dr. Orville’s brother, Dr. Harold Orville, was a distinguished professor of meteorology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

“All of us have loved studying weather,” Dr. Orville told University Relations. “My dad flew blimps and later did most of the weather forecasts for the Navy. So the weather has always been sort of a family thing for us.”

Orville received his PhD the University of Arizona. He taught at the State University of New York at Albany and served as senior scientist at Westinghouse Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh, PA before joining the Texas A&M faculty in 1991.

For more information on Dr. Orville and his line of research, go to http://www.met.tamu.edu/personnel/faculty/orville.html.