James T. Moore

Who was James T. Moore?

James T. Moore was an American meteorologist who advanced isentropic analysis, jet stream dynamics, cyclogenesis, and heavy precipitation forecasting. He was a past president of the National Weather Association. "Doc Moore" was also the co-author, with fellow meteorologist Peter R. Chaston, of Jokes and Puns for Groan-Ups.

Growing up in New York City, Jim had an early interest in weather. He attended New York University, graduating with a B.S. in meteorology, magna cum laude, in 1974. He moved on to Cornell University where he earned a M.S. in 1976, continuing to a Ph.D. in 1979, both in atmospheric sciences. He took an assistant professor position at State University College at Oneonta, New York, from 1978-1980. After this he was a longtime professor at Saint Louis University, where he remained a staple from 1980 until his death in 2006.

Moore was strongly interested in teaching, both forecasters and university students, as well as the general public. He regarded furthering his students as the most important thing he could be doing, more important than his research. As such, he was heavily involved in bridging research and operational meteorology and he traveled the country giving presentations, interacting with forecasters and ingesting feedback. He served as president of National Weather Association in 1999, and in 2000, received the T. Theodore Fujita Research Achievement Award from the NWA. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Then in 2006, he received the inaugural COMET Lifetime Achievement Award, and posthumously, the NWA Lifetime Achievement Award.