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VERNER
EDWARD SUOMI
1 915-1 995
WRITTEN BY TERRI GREGORY AND DONALD R.
JOHNSON
SUBMITTED BY THE NAE HOME SECRETARY
PROFESSOR EMERITUS VERNER E. SUOM} died at University
Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunclay, July 30, 1995,
after a long battle with heart c3 isease. Internationally
recognized as the "father of satellite meteorology,"
Professor Suomi invented numerous satellite instruments,
leading to
a better unclerstanding of the global
atmospheric circulation. For his Ph.D. thesis (1953), he
studied the local energy budgets using a cornfield as his
experimental laboratory.
In conducting the first
meteorological experiment from the Explorer VI! satellite in
1959, he analyze c! the radiative energy balance of the earth.
This was followed by planetary investigations with similar
instruments for Venus and Jupiter space probes. Professor
Suomi's most influential invention was the spin-scan
camera, enabling geostationary weather observations. The
technology is still usecl worIdwicle today.
Professor Suomi was born December 6, 1915, in Eveleth,
Minnesota. He received a B.S. in 1938 from Winona
Teachers' College, Winona, Minnesota, where he met Paula
Meyer. They were married August 10, 1941, in Immanue!
Lutheran Church, Potsciam, Minnesota, near the Meyer
family farm. The Suomis have three children: Lois was born
in 1943; Stephen, in 1945; and Eric, in 1950.
25i
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252
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Professor Suomi taught science in Minnesota high schools
from 193S through 1941. At the start of World War IT, he
enrolled in a civil air patrol course and began studying
meteorology. He was so taken with the nascent science, he
initiated studies at the University of Chicago and taught
practical meteorology to pilots. He came to the University of
Wisconsin (UW) in Madison in 194S, and was one of the first
faculty members of the Department of Meteorology. In 1953
he received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. He taught
at UW-Madison for his entire career, except for appointments
at the National Science Founclation ~ 1962) and as chief
scientist of the United States Weather Bureau (1964~. In
Wisconsin, Professor Suomi taught in the Departments of
Meteorology and Soil Science and the Institute for
Environmental Studies. He held the Harry WexIer
professorship
in meteorology and twice directed the
department (1950 to 1952 and 1954 to 1957~. Professor Suomi
retired from formal teaching in 1986 but continued teaching
a weekly undergraduate meteorology course in emeritus status,
saying it was a joy to him.
In 1965 Professor Suomi founded-the Space Science and En-
gineering Center to specialize in atmospheric research and
instrument development for satellites en cl space probes. Later,
the computer system McIDAS was developed to manage data
from "his" satellites. He was also the first director of the Cooper-
ative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, founcled in
1980 through the joint sponsorship of UW and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Professor Suomi nev-
er forgot his real employers or purpose, he said, and every
morning looked at the dedication plaque in his Center: "to the
understanding of man's physical environment and its use for the
benefit of mankind." That characterizes his work. His inventions
led to useful products that expanded knowledge geostationary
satellites to show weather systems passing over the face of the
earth, a powerful computer system to enable earth scientists to
"drink from the fire hydrant" of enormously large satellite data-
bases and to enhance images of the planets, and instruments to
measure Earth's and other planets' heat budgets.
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VERNER EDWARD SUOMI
253
Professor Suomi was honored numerous times during his
scientific career en cl each time acknowleciged the help of his
colleagues. At the ceremony in May 1994 to present him with
the World Meteorological
Organization's International
Meteorological Organization Prize, he recognizes! University
of Wisconsin contributions to his success, "all the way from
deans to technicians. Without
their very significant
encouragement and help, it never would have come to pass."
His earlier honors include the National Mecial of Science, the
first Walter AhIstrom Prize (Finland), the Franklin Medal
(given by Pennsylvania's scientific Franklin Institute), en c!
awards from the American Meteorological Society, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration. He was a member of the
National Academy of Engineering, the Arrlerican Meteorology
Society, the American Geophysical Union, the Finnish
Academy of Sciences (Helsinki), the Deutsch Akademie der
Naturforscher, the International Academy of Astronautics
(Paris), the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia),
the Acaclemy of Arts and Sciences (Boston), Phi Kappa Phi,
and the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. He was elected president of the American
Meteorological Society and of the American Geophysical
Union's Atmospheric Science Section in 1968 and server! on
many influential committees, many of them as a director.
University of Wisconsin Provost John Wiley, who workocl
with Professor Suomi while he was dean of the graduate
school, said, 'Werner Suomi was a giant of modern science.
His inventions were simple en cl elegant, en cl their
consequences are ubiquitous. Anyone looking at a satellite
image of Earth on the evening weather is looking at the
product of a rare mind."
Professor Suomi creclitec3 the schools of iron-range country
in northern Minnesota with giving him a grounding in
practical scientific thought, an emphasis that he instilled in
his many students. It was said of him that "he studied nature
with the efficiency of an engineer and with the subtlety and
insight of a true scientist." He brought that insight to his
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
teaching, much done informally outside the classroom.
Professor Suomi's professional contributions are enormously
important, but his work has a far greater impact among the
ranks of new scientists who are involved in observing en c!
increasing the understancling of our global geophysical
environment and in direct applications of weather imaging to
humankind's daily activities.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
american meteorological
