RELEASE NO: 99-125

GODDARD SCIENTIST RECEIVES NORDBERG AWARD FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO UNDERSTANDING THE TROPICAL ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN

Dr. William K. Lau, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Md.), is the 1999 recipient of the William Nordberg Memorial Award for his Earth science research. Lau is the sixth recipient since the Goddard honor was first introduced in 1994.

Lau is the head of the Climate and Radiation Branch in Goddard’s Laboratory for Atmospheres. He is recognized for his unique insight in explaining tropical atmosphere-ocean behavior and his leadership in various world climate research projects and NASA Earth Observing System interdisciplinary investigations, involving significant collaboration with research organizations, universities in the U. S. and abroad.

Nordberg, who was the Director of Space Applications at Goddard, was a pioneer in using remote sensing to investigate the Earth and its environment. The William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science is presented annually to a Goddard employee who "best exhibits qualities of broad scientific perspective, enthusiastic programmatic and technical leadership on the national and international levels, wide recognition by peers, and substantial research accomplishments in understanding Earth System processes".

Lau received his bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Hong Kong in 1973, his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 1977. He began his career at Goddard in 1981. Prior to joining Goddard, he taught at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

In addition to his current position at Goddard, he is also an adjunct professor of mathematics at the Hong Kong Science and Technology University. His research experiences include climate dynamics, monsoon, air-sea interaction and global change processes. Lau is a Goddard Senior Fellow, a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a member of the American Geophysical Union.

He is a resident of Silver Spring, Md. He lives with his wife Carol, and three children, Cynthia, Alan and Brian.