Carl-Gustaf Rossby

Biography

Abstract

Carl-Gustaf Rossby was Professor of Meteorology at University of Stockholm (1947-1957). Other institutional affiliations included University of Chicago, United States Weather Bureau, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests included polar front theory, atmospheric flow, atmospheric turbulence, dynamics of the stratosphere, thermodynamics, ocean currents, jet streams, and vortices.

Important Dates

December 28, 1898Birth, Stockholm (Sweden).

1918Obtained Filosofie Kandidat, University of Stockholm, Stockholm (Sweden).

1918 – 1921Assistant and Meteorologist, Geophysical Institute, Bergen.

1921Staff Member, Geophysical Institute, University of Leipzig.

1922 – 1923Meteorologist, Swedish Meteorologic-Hydrologic Service.

1925Obtained Filosofie Licentiat in Mathematical Physics, University of Stockholm, Stockholm (Sweden).

1926 – 1927American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellow and Junior Meteorologist, United States Weather Bureau.

1927 – 1928Chair, Committee on Aeronautical Meteorology, Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics.

1928 – 1941Associate Professor of Meteorology (1928-1932) and Professor of Meteorology (1932-1941), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1932 – 1957Research Associate, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

1939 – 1941Assistant Chief for Research and Education, United States Weather Bureau.

1941 – 1951Professor of Meteorology (1941-1943) and Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor (1943-1951), University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1943Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1947 – 1957Professor of Meteorology and Director, Meteorological Institute, University of Stockholm, Stockholm (Sweden).

August 19, 1957Death, Stockholm (Sweden).

Occupation

Meteorologist.

Places

Birth

Stockholm (Sweden)

Undergraduate Education

Stockholm (Sweden)

Graduate Education

Stockholm (Sweden)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Chicago (Ill.)

Stockholm (Sweden)

Death

Stockholm (Sweden)

Subjects

Mathematical physics.

Meteorology.

Stratosphere.

Thermodynamics.

Relationships

People

Family

Rossby, Alma Charlotta Marelius Rossby

Mother.

Rossby, Arvid

Father.

Rossby, Harriet Alexander

Wife.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bjerknes, V. (Vilhelm), 1862-1951

Graduate advisor at Bergen School of Meteorology.

Bolin, Bert, 1925-2007

Advised by Rossby at University of Stockholm.

Bryson, Reid A.

Advised by Rossby at University of Chicago, "On disturbances in the Easterlies."

Byers, Horace Robert, 1906-

Advised by Rossby at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "The Changes in Air Masses During Lifting."

Fultz, Dave, 1921-

Advised by Rossby at University of Chicago, "Upper-air trajectories and weather forecasting," and both employed at University of Chicago.

Neiburger, Morris

Advised by Rossby at University of Chicago, "Physical processes associated with summer stratus in southern California."

Pekeris, C. L. (Chaim Leib), 1908-1993

Advised by Rossby at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "The development and present status of the theory of the heat balance in the atmosphere."

Phillips, Norman A., 1923-

Advised by Rossby at University of Chicago.

Simpson, Joanne

Advised by Rossby, University of Chicago.

Spilhaus, A. F. (Athelstan Frederick), Jr.

Advised by Rossby at Woods Holes Oceanographic Institution.

Starr, Victor P.

Advised by Rossby at University of Chicago, "A quasi-Lagrangian system of hydrodynamical equations."

Colleagues

Haurwitz, Bernhard

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zener, Clarence, 1905-

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Additional

Charney, Jule G.

Malone, Thomas F.

Munk, Walter H. (Walter Heinrich), 1917-

Smagorinsky, J. (Joseph)

Thompson, Philip Duncan

Institutions

Major Positions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Meteorology

Associate Professor and Professor of Meteorology.

Stockholms universitet

Obtained Filosofie Kandidat (1918) and Filosofie Licentiat in Mathematical Physics (1925). Professor of Meteorology and Director, Meteorological Institute.

Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut

Meteorologist.

United States. Weather Bureau

American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellow and Junior Meteorologist, and Assistant Chief for Research and Education.

Universität Leipzig (1409-1953)

Staff Member, Geophysical Institute.

Universitetet i Bergen. Geofysisk institutt

Assistant and Meteorologist.

University of Chicago. Department of the Geophysical Sciences

Professor of Meteorology and Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Meteorological Society

President.

Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics

Chair, Committee on Aeronautical Meteorology.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Research Associate.

Resources

Archival Resources

Subject

Jule G. Charney papers, 1936-1981, (bulk 1948-1981)

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with Bert Bolin, 2001 May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Joseph Smagorinsky, 1986 May 16, 17 and 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Thomas F. Malone, 1995 January 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Walter Heinrich Munk, 1997 January 8, September 16, 17, 1998 February 4 and 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Philip D. Thompson papers, 1944-1994.

Archives.

National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000, USA

Reid A. Bryson response to History of Geophysics Survey, 1997.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Subject

"Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby: 1898-1957", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

"Carl-Gustaf Rossby: The Stockholm Period, 1947-1957," Tellus A 51 (1999): 4-12

The atmosphere and the sea in motion; scientific contributions to the Rossby memorial volume.