Dr. Jagadish Shukla was the founding chair of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences (AOES), whose faculty includes internationally renowned scientists, the founding director of the Climate Dynamics Ph.D. program, and the founding director of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), a center of excellence at Mason. His seminal works on predictability in the midst of chaos, reanalysis, and land-atmosphere interactions established a scientific basis for prediction beyond weather by showing that the slowly varying boundary conditions of ocean temperature and land surface properties can produce dynamically predictable and societally beneficial climate variations.
During his more than 40 years in weather and climate research, he has led the field, either through his own scientific contributions or by creating lasting, high-impact institutions within the United States and other countries. His work has had an enormous impact on advancing climate science, establishing international climate research programs, and the practice of predicting climate variations.
More than 90 guests gathered Friday, April 22, 2022 to celebrate the achievements of College of Science Professor Dr. Jagadish Shukla. Considered a trailblazer in the Mason community, Shukla’s esteemed career spans the globe, from establishing the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA) and modernizing India’s weather enterprise to serving as lead author of the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore. What better day to celebrate his contributions than on Earth Day?
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