Dr. William P. Lowry
(1927-1998)
The
late Dr. William P. Lowry was best known as a Professor of biometeorology and
climatology, and author of several definitive articles and textbooks on these
and related subjects.
After
earning a Master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1955, Dr. Lowry
came west to work for the US Army Corps of Engineers in Soda Springs,
California. He held positions with the Oregon Forestry Department in Salem and
the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory in Corvallis in the 1950s and 60s, and
was appointed Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State
University after completing his Ph.D. in 1962.
In
1970, Dr. Lowry joined an interdisciplinary team of teachers and researchers
under the guidance of Prof. Ian McHarg in the Department of Landscape
Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, in
Philadelphia. In 1971, he worked and wrote for the World Meteorological
Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1972-1981 he lived and worked in Urbana,
Illinois, first for the Illinois Water Survey on its Project METROMEX, studying
urban climate in and around St. Louis, then for the University of Illinois
where he was Professor of Geography and then of Ecology.
Dr. Lowry retired and returned to
Oregon in 1981, where he wrote and worked as a consulting meteorologist. He
returned briefly to the University of Pennsylvania as a visiting professor, and
taught locally at OSU, Linfield College, and Chemeketa Community College. In
January, 1998, the American Meteorological Society recognized and honored Dr.
Lowry's lifetime contributions to the field of biometeorology, as a teacher and
research scientist, by selecting him for its infrequently granted Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Biometeorology. (Click here for Dr. Lowry’s complete
professional history.)
Of Dr. Lowry's numerous writings,
the best known include a classic Scientific
American article, "The Climate of Cities" (1966), and the first
textbook ever on the subject of biological meteorology, Weather and Life (1969). Around the time of the first Earth Day in
1970 he contributed several booklets and articles on the subject of air
pollution meteorology, and after his work for METROMEX and a professional visit
to Hungary in the early 80s, he authored and co-authored a series of articles
on urban temperature and precipitation. Eventually these culminated in an
important review article, "Urban Effects on Precipitation Amount,"
published in 1998 in the British journal Progress
in Physical Geography. (See below for citations of selected publications.)
After retirement, Dr. Lowry
produced two substantial textbooks. The first, entitled Atmospheric Ecology for Designers and Planners (1987), was based on
his interdisciplinary experiences at the University of Pennsylvania. It
involved collaborations with landscape architect Aron Faegre of Portland and
architect John Reynolds of the University of Oregon, and was illustrated by
Lowry's younger son. The second textbook, a two-volume work entitled Fundamentals of Biometeorology,
coauthored with his elder son, expands on the earlier Weather and Life to present the full sweep of the subject and
stands to become a classic textbook in the field. Volume I of Fundamentals
was published in 1989; Volume II,
Professor Lowry’s final work, appeared in 2002.
Proceeds from the sale of these
books will be contributed to the William P. Lowry Memorial Fund, established to help support graduate research in
biometeorology.
Apart from his professional
projects, in which he maintained a passionate involvement until the end of his
life, Dr. Lowry contributed frequently to causes including environmental awareness,
civil liberty, civil rights, and human rights, as well as to his community and
the lives of his many friends. In retirement, he worked with numerous local
arts, political, and community organizations, spearheading several of them. He
had a powerful interest in politics, history, geography, and people; a strong
moral compass; and a commitment to integrity and to action.
–
Samuel C. Lowry and Porter P. Lowry II
SELECTED
PUBLICATIONS
ARTICLES
1956 “Evaporation from forest soils near Donner
Summit, California, and a proposed field method for estimating evaporation,” Ecology, v. 37, 419-430.
1959 “Energy budgets of several environments
under sea-breeze advection in western Oregon,” J. Meteor., v. 16, 299-311.
1962 “Standardizing field estimates of evaporative
soil moisture loss rates,” Ecology,
v. 43, 757-760.
1966 “The climate of cities,” Sci. American, August, p. 15.
1977 “Empirical estimation of urban effects on
climate: a problem analysis,” J. Appl.
Meteor., v. 16, 129-135.
1978 “An attempt to detect the effects of a
steelworks on precipitation amounts in Central Hungary,” J. Appl. Meteor., v. 17, 964-975.
1980 “Clear-sky direct-beam solar radiation
versus altitude: a proposal for standard soundings,” J. Appl. Meteor., v. 19, 1323-1327.
1998 “Urban effects on precipitation amount,” Progress in Physical Geogr., v. 22,
477-520.
CHAPTERS AND SECTIONS IN BOOKS
1975 “The
meteorological setting for dispersal of air pollutants” (with R. Wanta),
Chapter 8 in Air Pollution: Third Edition, Volume 1, A.C. Stern (Ed.),
Academic Press, New York.
1976 “Weather modification” (invited), McGraw-Hill
Yearbook of Science and Technology.
1979 “Interactions between cities and their
local and regional weather and climate,” Chapter 6 in Western European
Cities in Crisis, M. Romanos (Ed.), D.C. Health, Lexington, MA.
1979 “North American research concerning the
effects of urbanization on local and regional weather and climate,” in Urban
Development in the USA and Hungary, Gy. Enyedi (Ed.), Akademiai Kiado,
Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest.
BOOKS
1969 Weather
and Life: An Introduction to Biometeorology, Academic Press, New York.
1969 Biometeorology:
Proceedings of the 28th Annual Biology Colloquium (Editor),
Oregon State University Press, Corvallis.
1972 Fundamentals
of Air Pollution (with A.C. Stern, H. Wohlers, and R. Boubel), Academic
Press, New York.
1972 Compendium
of Lecture Notes in Climatology (for Class-IV Meteorological Personnel: WMO
No. 327; for Class-III Meteorological Personnel: WMO No. 335), World
Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
1988 Atmospheric
Ecology for Designers and Planners, Peavine Publications, McMinnville, OR.
1989 Fundamentals
of Biometeorology: Interactions of Organisms and the Atmosphere – Volume
1: The Physical Environment (with
Porter P. Lowry II), Peavine Publications, McMinnville, OR.
2001 Fundamentals
of Biometeorology: Interactions of Organisms and the Atmosphere – Volume
2: The Biological Environment (with
Porter P. Lowry II), Peavine Publications, McMinnville, OR.
PROFESSIONAL
APPOINTMENTS
1982-98
– Self-employed Consultant (McMinnville, OR)
Concurrent part-time appointments:
Oregon State University (Corvallis)
Professor
of Atmospheric Science (1982-85)
Professor
of Forest Science (1986-98)
Professor
of Science Education (1986-98)
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
Professor
of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning (1986-96)
Linfield College (McMinnville, OR)
Professor
of Science and Mathematics (1986-94)
Chemeketa Community College (Salem, OR)
Instructor
in Physical Science (1985-94)
1973-82
– University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
Professor
of Geography (1973-82)
Professor
of Ecology (1976-82)
Professor
in the Institute for Environmental Studies (1973-82)
Adjunct Professor of Environmental
Engineering, Civil Engineering (1974-82)
1972-73
– Illinois State Water Survey (Urbana-Champaign)
Senior Scientist, Atmospheric
Sciences
1971
(Aug-Dec) – World Meteorological Organization (Geneva, Switzerland)
Consultant
to Education and Training Office
1970-71
– University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
Visiting Assistant Professor of
Regional Planning, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
1961-72
– Oregon State University (Corvallis)
Associate
Professor of Biometeorology (1968-72)
Assistant
Professor f Biometeorology (1964-68)
Assistant
Professor of Forest Meteorology** (1961-64)
1957-61
– Oregon Forest Research Center (Corvallis)
Research
Meteorologist**
1955-57
– Oregon State Board of Forestry (Salem)
Research
Meteorologist**
(** These three positions are
actually the same: change of title and location only)
1953-55 – University of
Wisconsin (Madison)
Research
Associate in Meteorology
1951-53
– US Army Corps of Engineers (Soda Springs, CA)
Physicist;
Snow, Ice & Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE)
OTHER
CREDENTIALS
Fellow,
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) – 1965
Certified
Consulting Meteorologist, American Meteorological Society – 1970
Licensed
Private Pilot (FAA Certificate No 1 945 968: ASEL) – 1969
Consultant
to three Oregon Regional Air Pollution Authorities: Lane (Eugene), Willamette
(Salem) and Columbia (Portland) – 1968-70
Award for Outstanding Achievement in
Biometeorology, American Meteorological Society (for lifetime contributions to
the field of biometeorology as teacher and research scientist) – 1998
EDUCATION
College:
Georgetown University (Washington,
DC) 1943-44
University of Cincinnati (Ohio)
College of Engineering 1945-46/1948
College of Liberal Arts 1948-50 A.B.
(Mathematics) 1950
Graduate
School (Physical Geography) 1951
University of Wisconsin (Madison) 1953-55 M.S.
(Meteorology) 1955
Oregon State University (Corvallis) 1957-62 Ph.D.
(General Science) 1962*
*An interdisciplinary degree program
– fields of study included Meteorology; Statistics and Operations Research;
Plant Ecology and Physiology