After 23 years at the helm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), Verner E. Suomi has stepped down. Replacing him as the center’s director is meteorologist Francis P. Bretherton, former director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo..
Space scientist and meteorologist Suomi cofounded the center in 1965 with the late Robert Parent, a University of Wisconsin electrical engineer. As an emeritus professor, Suomi, 72, plans to continue his research at the center.
Suomi is perhaps best known for his invention of the spin-scan camera, a satellite-borne scanning camera able to take moving pictures of an entire hemisphere; and for his development of McIDAS, a powerful interactive computer system that allows researchers and forecasters to manipulate sateflite images and other information much as television sportscasters use instant replays. His honors include the National Medal of Science, presented by President Jimmy Carter in ...
