I'm back. It's #BlackHistoryMonth and I want to take the time to honor a man who had a profound influence on me as a science educator, the late, great Tom Carney, who was a great positive influence on my early teaching career. It's an important time to remember those who have influenced us personally, I firmly believe. He is one of the celebrated African-American meteorologists recognized in the 2005 Passport to Knowledge project.
It started as I was in the midst of a 3-yr run of temporary full-time faculty gigs while I foolishly tried to complete my PhD at Oregon State University. It started in 1983-84 at Texas A&M University, moved to Florida State University, and then Creighton University, before I realized I had to be "present" at OSU to complete (hint to those working on their doctorates - stay focused on the work at hand and develop a good completion strategy!). I knew I had some ability to teach, having completed the "College and University Teaching" minor for my PhD requirements, and having taught some of the upper division classes for BS majors. But was a life as a faculty member really going to work for me?
I met Tom as I arrived in Tallahassee in August 1984 and we immediately bonded. We were both interested in instrumentation and observations, and the atmospheric boundary layer. Tom mentored me in particular about developing rapport among the relatively small seniors, new graduate students, and Air Force "basic meteorology program" students. That semester's group consisted of about 15 dedicated students (a far cry from the 50+ that were taking synoptic 1 by the time I left FSU in 2012!). He schooled me in teaching strategies that helped me to bridge the gap between physical and dynamic meteorology into synoptic meteorology (I really have been a boundary layer/turbulence guy even though I was often hired or appointed to teach synoptics!). I began to view synoptic meteorology (properly I would say) as the place where students begin to appreciate the foundational work done in physical and dynamic meteorology. I remember years later meeting a student in Doak Campbell Stadium at a big game and he thanked me for teaching him dynamics in synoptics! As I thought about this more, and began to touch base with the likes of Fred Sanders, Lance Bosart, Howie Bluestein through UCAR workshops and AMS meetings, I would often go back to my conversations with Tom.
My initial stint at FSU lasted only a year before I was off to unemployment back in Texas, where my wife was building a thriving midwifery practice. But there wasn't much for me there, so I applied for a job at Creighton, which did not turn out so well for me (and so many others). Back to Corvallis, to complete the PhD in less than a year and then a postdoc, and FSU opened a new position, so I interviewed again, and found a good place for the next 24½ years.
By the time I returned to FSU in August 1988 (8/8/88 was my lucky hiring date), Tom was already quite ill, and sadly he succumbed to his illness a short time later. I was surprised that as a new faculty member, I was touched and honored when the chair approached me to help arrange his memorial service at FSU. After all, there were a dozen other members of the department, but I was happy to do it, and meet his family. Tom was a unique individual who I will never forget. He helped instill in me an attitude of inclusiveness as a parent, and educator. It is by his own grace and dedication that I worked hard to reach out to communities that were not well represented at the time (1980s) in Meteorology, working with AMS to create and implement scholarship opportunities for undergraduates.
Let's not forget those who influenced us to make the world a better place.
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