William Kellogg begins by describing his first acquaintance with the NCAR concept, and his belief in the benefits of team research or big science. He notes the first retreat meeting at Keystone and offers examples of problems that required an interdisciplinary approach. He mentions chairing a group for a larger study called the "Study of Critical Environmental Problems" ("SCEP" study for short), which wrote on human influences on climate, and discusses the challenges of getting scientists to work together, relating an anecdote about having to fire a dynamic meteorologist.

Douglas K. Lilly was a renowned meteorologist who had a significant impact on the field of atmospheric sciences. Although Lilly completed his undergraduate work in physics at Stanford University on a Navy ROTC scholarship, he always envisioned going into meteorology.

Roland (Rol) Madden, an American meteorologist who was a staff scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from 1967 to 2002. His research centers on diagnostic studies of the atmosphere. 

Scope and Content Note

Nelder Medrud begins the interview with a discussion of his life history, education and research prior to arriving at NCAR. Medrud became acquainted with NCAR through Phil Thompson and Henry van de Boogaard while at the University of Stockholm, Sweden in the early 1960s. In the Air Force, Medrud’s specialty was applied climatology and a position opened up at NCAR focusing on applications to societal problems. The immediate focus of Medrud’s work at NCAR was on the matter of the consequences of hail to society.

Topics include: Mesa Lab site; time on Boulder City Council; time in Climax; Boulder's open space policy; Walter Orr Roberts; Mesa Lab construction; I.M. Pei; fund raising; HAO; Mesa Lab design; computers; roof leaks; Aspen Institute; music; the humanities and science.

Copyright Information: Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Oral history interview with Karyn Sawyer, 2015. Interviewed by Richard Anthes. Forms part of the UCAR/NCAR Oral History Collection. Long-time UCAR/NCAR staff member Karyn Sawyer reflects on her decades-long career at the organization, including how she came to work for NCAR, field projects, international scientific cooperation, UCAR/NCAR administration, and her management style.