Warren Washington's Timeline of Service, Activities, Honors & Awards
From 1978 to 1984, Dr. Warren Washington served on the President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. He participated in several panels of the National Research Council and chaired its Advisory Panel for Climate Puzzle, a film produced for the 1986 PBS television series Planet Earth.
Dr. Washington was a member of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board from 1990 to 1993 and served on the Secretary of Energy's Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC) from 1990-2014.
Dr. Washington held the office of President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1994 and was Past President in 1995.
He served on the Modernization Transition Committee and the National Centers for Environment Prediction Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Weather Service. In 1998, he was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Science Advisory Board, until 2002.
In May of 1995, Dr. Washington was appointed by President Clinton to a six-year term on the National Science Board, which helps oversee the National Science Foundation and advises the Executive Branch and Congress on science related matters. In March 2000 he was nominated by President Clinton for a second six-year term and was confirmed by the Senate in September 2000. In May 2002, The National Science Board (NSB) in Washington, D.C., elected Dr. Washington as its new Chair. He was re-elected to a second term in May of 2004. The National Science Board has dual responsibilities as national science policy adviser to the president and Congress and as governing board for the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency. Dr. Washington's term ended on 10 May 2006. The accomplishments of the NSB during Washington's tenure can be found here.
Dr. Washington is a Fellow of the AMS and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and from 1991 to 1995 he was a member of the AAAS Board of Directors.
He is a Distinguished Alumnus of Pennsylvania State University and Oregon State University, an Alumni Fellow of Pennsylvania State University and Oregon State University, a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute, and a member of the American Geophysical Union.
In 1995, Dr. Washington received the Le Verrier Medal of the Societe Meteorologique de France. In February 1997, he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences Portrait Collection of African Americans in Science, Engineering, and Medicine and in May 1997, he was awarded the Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research Program Exceptional Service Award for Atmospheric Sciences in the development and application of advanced coupled atmospheric-ocean general circulation models to study the impacts of anthropogenic activities on future climate. He was selected to be a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer for 1998-1999. Also, in 1998 he delivered the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Walter Orr Roberts Distinguished Lecture and a Rice University Computer and Information Technology Institute Distinguished Lecture. In 1999, Washington received the National Weather Service Modernization Award.
In 1999, Dr. Washington was awarded the Dr. Charles Anderson Award from the American Meteorological Society "for pioneering efforts as a mentor and passionate support of individuals, educational programs, and outreach initiatives designed to foster a diverse population of atmospheric scientists."
In March 2000, Dr. Washington received the Celebrating 20th Century Pioneers in Atmospheric Sciences Award at Howard University and in April 2000, the Colorado Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Award "in recognition of significant and unique contributions in the field of science." In 2001, he gave the first Ralph W. Bromery lecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Bromery was a Tuskegee Airman and later became the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts.
In February 2002, Dr. Washington was an invited lecturer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Explorer Series.
Also, in February 2002, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced that it had elected Dr. Washington to its membership "for pioneering the development of coupled climate models, their use on parallel supercomputing architectures, and their interpretation." Washington was inducted into the NAE in October 2002.
In 2002, he was appointed to the Science Advisory Panel of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the National Academies of Science Coordinating Committee on Global Change.
On April 26, 2003, Dr. Washington was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
In August 2004, Dr. Washington received the Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The Vollum Award was created in 1975 as a tribute to the late C. Howard Vollum, a 1936 Reed graduate and lifelong friend of the college. Winners are selected for the perseverance, fresh approach to problems and solutions, and creative imagination that characterized Vollum's career. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Linux creator Linus Torvalds were previous winners of this award.
In June 2006, Dr. Washington was the commencement speaker and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Science at Oregon State University.
In October 2006, Dr. Washington was the Robert D. Cess Distinguished Topics in Atmospheric an Oceanic Sciences Seminar Speaker at the State University of New York at Stonybrook.
Dr. Washington was elected honorary member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2006 and received the Charles Franklin Brooks Award from the AMS for outstanding services to the Society in January 2007.
A Symposium entitled Climate Modeling, Prediction and Science Policy, was held in Dr. Washington's honor at NCAR in August 2007.
Dr. Washington received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Raymond L. Orbach of the U.S. Department of Energy in August 2007. "In recognition of a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to National and International science, on behalf of the U. S. Department of Energy, I wish to express our appreciation. You [Warren Washington] have advised five Presidents, given wise and insightful counsel to colleagues, advice to the Department of Energy and other Federal agencies, and mentored directly and as a role model to enumerable young people. Your numerous scientific contributions to climate modeling have provided new knowledge on how the Earth's climate may respond to human and natural system changes. I commend and thank you for your service to science and to humankind."
In December 2007, Dr. Washington was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and Environment.
In May 2008, Dr. Washington was a commencement speaker and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
In January 2008, Dr. Washington along with colleague Dr. Gerald Meehl received The Jule G. Charney Award from the American Meteorological Society "for outstanding collaborative contributions to modeling climate and its response to anthropogenic and natural forcings."
Dr. Washington was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2009.
Dr. Washington was selected as letter contributor for the book "Letter from Leaders" along with T. Boone Pickens, Walter Cronkite, Gerald Ford, Dali Lama, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and others. This book was published by Lyons Press in May 2009. Also in May 2009 he was the recipient of a Green Award from Essence Magazine.
The Warren Washington Special Symposium was held in Dr. Washington's honor at the AMS Annual Meeting in January 2010.
In 2010, he received the James E. Steward Award from the American Association of Blacks in Energy [AABE Awards] and the Charles Hosler Medal from Pennsylvania State University in recognition of "your remarkable career as a talented scientist and skillful leadership".
Dr. Washington was awarded the the 2009 National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama on November 17, 2010. [Medal of Science]
In 2012, the HistoryMakers presented A Night with Warren Washington at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Dr. Washington was interviewed by Dr. Ralph Cicerone, President of the NAS. The interview was broadcast on PBS. [A Night with Warren Washington]
In 2013, Dr. Washington received the Urban Eductation Institute Award from North Carolina A&T State University and the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, (NOBCChE) Percy L. Julian Ward.
Dr. Washington was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science "in recognition of your groundbreaking research in the fields of atmospheric science and climate research" at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on October 18, 2013.
He was the Keynote Speaker for Supercomputing 2013 held in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Washington was elected American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow in December 2013.
In 2014, Dr. Washington was the Martin Luther King Jr. Keynote Speaker at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and he received the Association of American Geographer's Honorary Geographer Award.
He received the Oregon State University, College of Science 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award for distinguished personal and career accomplishments and for exemplary contributions to society that bring credit to the College as well as to Oregon State University.
Dr. Washington currently serves as Chair of the NAS/NRC Committee to Advise the U. S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
Dr. Washington received the Alpha Phi Alpha Public Award of Merit at its Convention in August, 2015.
Dr. Washington was awarded an NCAR Distinguished Scholar appointment in October 2015. The NCAR Distinguished Scholar program offers the highest honors that can be bestowed upon NCAR scientists who are either retired or in a part-time phased-retirement position.
Dr. Washington received an honorary doctorate from Colby College in May 2017. [Speakers and Honorands]
On September 6, 2018, Dr. Washington was honored at the Warren Washington Legacy Symposium: A Scientific Journey in Climate Modeling, Research, and Science at Pennsylvania State University where University President, Eric Barron, announced that they would name a building at Innovation Park in his honor.
On May 17, 2019, Dr. Washington attended the building naming ceremony at Innovation Park. [Penn State News Story]
Image credit: Joshua Yospyn
Dr. Washington was awarded The International Tyler Prize for Environmental Research with Michael Mann in May, 2019. [Tyler Prize News Story]
On September 27, 2019, Dr. Washington was awarded the Oregon State University, College of Science 2019 Lifetime Achievement in Science Award. [Oregon State News Story]
In February, 2020 The American Meteorological Society (AMS) announced a new national award in honor of Dr. Washington. The Warren Washington Research and Leadership Medal will be presented to individuals who are recognized for the combination of highly significant research and distinguished scientific leadership in the atmospheric and related sciences. [UCAR News Story]