AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
NEWS RELEASE
1200 New York Ave, NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005

Contact: Keli Tarp
(405) -366-0451
Cell (405) 203-4839
Keli.Tarp@nssl.noaa.gov

Stephanie Kenitzer, AMS
(410) 672-6750
kenitzer@dc.ametsoc.org

KIMPEL SELECTED PRESIDENT OF
AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

The world's premier scientific and professional organization for weather, the American Meteorological Society, recently named James F. Kimpel, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla., president for 2000.

Kimpel, who served as president-elect last year, is the first person from Oklahoma to be selected to lead the organization. He is a certified consulting meteorologist and was elected a fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 1989. He has distinguished himself by serving on the organization's 15-member Council, the executive committee, and as chairman of the Committee on Societal Impacts.

In addition, Kimpel serves on the Department of Energy / Battelle / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Review Committee for Environment and Health. He has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Board on Natural Disasters since 1994. Previously, he chaired both the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Board of Trustees and the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for the Atmospheric Sciences.

A professor of meteorology and former administrator at the University of Oklahoma, Kimpel has directed the Lab for more than three years. He is only the third person to serve as director since it was established in 1964. NSSL conducts basic and applied research to improve forecasts and warnings of tornadoes and other severe weather, working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service and the university meteorological community.

He received his Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin in 1973.

"Information about weather and climate are increasingly being applied to economic and social issues," Kimpel said. "Our field has significant policy implications in areas such as energy, the open exchange of data and natural hazard reduction. I plan on using my year as president to champion awareness of the value of our field in these areas."

Kimpel's selection was announced during the American Meteorological Society's 80th annual meeting held in Long Beach, Calif. Jan. 9 - 14.

[Editor's Note: A photo of Dr. Kimpel is available from Keli Tarp at (405) 366-0451 or by e-mail at keli.tarp@noaa.gov.]