Senior Vice President and Provost André-Denis Wright announced the appointment of Robert Palmer as the new dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and director of the National Weather Center Wednesday morning.
Palmer came to OU in 2004 as the Tommy C. Craighead Chair in the school of meteorology. He established the Advanced Radar Research Center and currently serves as its executive director.
Palmer also serves as OU’s associate vice president for Research and Partnerships. He is an American Meteorological Society and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellow, according to Wright.
At OU, Palmer’s research has focused on the application of advanced radar signal-processing techniques to observations of severe weather, with an emphasis on phased-array radars and other system designs.
According to Wright, Palmer earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering at OU. Before joining OU’s faculty he held faculty and research appointments at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Clemson University.
In a campus wide email, Wright wrote Palmer will officially begin his position on July 1, pending final approval of the OU Board of Regents.
Following the death of Berrien Moore III, former dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and director of the National Weather Center, Palmer took up his current position as interim director of the National Weather Center in December.
Wright thanked both Palmer and current interim dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences Petra Klein for assuming their roles during a time of transition.
According to Wright, Palmer is an internationally recognized leader in radar meteorology, who has secured more than $115 million in competitive research funding and has been an integral part of the OU scientific and academic community for over two decades.
Robert Palmer.
Palmer’s official appointment comes during a period of uncertainty for the National Weather Center. On Feb. 27, an unspecified number of employees and OU meteorology students with roles at the National Weather Center were laid off. An anonymous source who works for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Norman location told OU Daily they estimated roughly 15 to 20 employees were laid off in Norman.
Wright described Palmer as a pioneer in the development and commercialization of cutting-edge observational technologies, aligning his research with emerging national priorities in atmospheric science.
“Dr. Palmer’s accomplishments speak to a career spent pushing the boundaries of knowledge, and we are fortunate to have such a distinguished leader at the helm of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and the National Weather Center,” Wright wrote. “Please join me in wishing him well as he leads these vital institutions into an exciting new chapter.”
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
