Walter Orr Roberts

Walter Orr Roberts was born on August 20, 1915, in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to Ernest Marion Roberts and Alice Elliot Orr. He was the oldest of three children.{{cite web|url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/28418-1|title=Walter Roberts – Oral History Interviews – Session I|date=26 July 1983|publisher=American Institute of Physics|accessdate=13 November 2017}} He attained a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Amherst College in 1938, and a Masters and PhD in astronomy from Harvard University in 1940 and 1943. In 1940 he married Janet Smock.New York Times: [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/14/obituaries/walter-orr-roberts-is-dead-at-74-expert-on-climate-s-effect-on-life.html "Walter Orr Roberts Is Dead at 74; Expert on Climate's Effect on Life," March 14, 1990], accessed May 25, 2011

From 1940 to 1946 Roberts was superintendent of the Climax Observing Station, Harvard College Observatory, in Climax Colorado. This site was chosen by Donald H. Menzel in 1939; Menzel also supervised the construction of the observatory and residence on the mining property of the Climax Molybdenum Company.Remembering Walt Roberts. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 1991, p.13. The observatory was installed with a coronagraph in 1940, which had been developed and tested at the Oakridge Station of Harvard College Observatory (it was patterned after one developed by Bernard Lyot in the 1930s in France). At the Harvard College Observatory in Climax (elevation 11,520 feet), Roberts observed and concluded that changes in the corona affected radio communications, and in fact these changes provided advance warning of communication disturbances. This became important for WWII wartime security and the observatory work was classified and overseen by the Navy during this period. In 1945, after WWII, the National Bureau of Standards contracted the observatory for reports on solar activity. In 1946, the Climax Harvard College Observatory incorporated with the University of Colorado under CU President Robert L. Stearns's tenure and was renamed the High Altitude Observatory (HAO).Hallgren, E. L. (1974). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7222s2m The University Corporation for Atmospheric research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1960–1970: An institutional history. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research]. (pp.55–56). Boulder, Colorado. At that time, he became the founding director of the High Altitude Observatory (HAO), and remained the director until 1961. HAO launched an Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Relations in January 1956 for a four-year period “to study the effects of the sun on weather with the hope that from this work would come an improvement in weather or climate forecasting based on analysis of variations in the emissions from the sun.” Hallgren, E. L. (1974). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7222s2m The University Corporation for Atmospheric research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1960–1970: An institutional history]. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (p.66). Subsequently he was the founding president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and first director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

In the fall of 1956, Walter Orr Roberts was named head of the newly created Department of Astro-Geophysics in the graduate school by the Regents of the University of Colorado; instruction began in the fall of 1957.Hallgren, E. L. (1974). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7222s2m The University Corporation for Atmospheric research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1960–1970: An institutional history. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research]. (p.67-69).

In 1960 after the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) incorporated, Roberts was elected its first president. Boulder was chosen as the site for NCAR, and Roberts was named its inaugural director in 1960 (while continuing to direct HAO). The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) was established by UCAR in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF).[https://www2.ucar.edu/about-us/history UCAR & NCAR – OUR HISTORY] “The basic purposes of NCAR are: (1) to conduct fundamental research on the processes of the atmosphere on a scope beyond that yet attempted; (2) to provide, or arrange for the provision of, research facilities, to be open to all scientists, that are beyond the capacity of universities or most research groups to acquire or maintain; (3) to provide a center at which various groups in the atmospheric sciences and closely related fields may meet to define goals and plan programs.”[http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d74t6gxt I.M. Pei firm selected as architects for National Center for Atmospheric Research]. (10/25/1961). UCAR The Colorado Legislature appropriated $250,000 to buy 500 acres beneath the Flatirons just south of Boulder (known as Table Mountain) for the new center. I.M. Pei was selected as the architect in 1961. The resulting Mesa Laboratory, NCAR's flagship building, is considered an architectural masterpiece.Warner, Lucy. (1985). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7x928mr The National Center for Atmospheric Research: An Architectural Masterpiece]. UCAR. Boulder, Colorado.

File:Walter Orr Roberts and I.M. Pei meet in front of the NCAR building, Boulder, Colorado.png

By 1965, as the director of both UCAR and NCAR, Walter Orr Roberts presided over five branches of NCAR: the Advanced Study Program, the Laboratory of Atmospheric Sciences or LAS (which included a Summer Visitor's program and a Scientific Computing Facility), the High Altitude Observatory (HAO), the Facilities Division (which included the Research Aviation Facility, the Scientific Balloon Facility, a Library, Machine and Electronics Shops, and Field Observing Support for the Marshall Field Site, the Low-level Sounding System, and Radar Observations), and the Administrative and Support Services Division.Hallgren, E. L. (1974). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7222s2m The University Corporation for Atmospheric research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1960–1970: An institutional history. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research]. (p.66).

In an oral interview in 1987, Roberts “discusses how he came to be NCAR's first director, the purpose for creating a national center, the process for identifying NCAR's initial priorities, the issue of competition between NCAR and university programs, the debate regarding NCAR's focus on research with practical applications, and NCAR's early facilities. Roberts reflects on characteristics of a successful research center, his ideas about administration, and the importance of interdisciplinary research and international cooperation among the scientific community.”Roberts, Walter Orr. (1987, August 21). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7hx19x9 Oral History Interview with Walter Orr Roberts]. UCAR/NCAR Oral History Collection. Boulder, Colorado.

Walter Orr Roberts was a pivotal figure in making Boulder, Colorado, a center for scientific research. Boulder attracted such institutions as HAO, UCAR, NCAR, the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory (CRPL) of the National Bureau of Standards, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), JILA, LASP, IBM, Ball Aerospace, and NOAA during the 1940s – 1970s.Bassi, J.P. (2015). A scientific peak: How Boulder became a world center for space and atmospheric science. Boston, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society. “Walt was enormously helpful in bringing a lot of very ambitious and competing scientific groups together.”Remembering Walt Roberts. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 1991, p. 75.

In 1979, Roberts and Henry Lansford published The Climate Mandate, which discussed climatic variation and its implications. Greenhouse Glasnost, which was discussed at a 1989 Sundance Symposium on Global Climate Change, was one outcome of this international exchange.Roberts, W. O. (1989, August 26). [http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d79k48k7 Provocations #276: Sundance greenhouse glasnost]. Walter Orr Roberts Collections. Climate and climate change remain important areas of study for NCAR scientists.[http://ucarconnect.ucar.edu/topics/climate-and-climate-change Climate and Climate Change]. UCAR.

From 1974–1981, Roberts served as Director for the Program of Food, Climate, and the World's Future at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. He taught a course in world environmental problems, which was conducted by computer communications, for the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in La Jolla, California, from 1982–1990. The Climate Club: A Collection of 299 Provocations Written by Walter Orr Roberts as They Appeared in WBSI Teleconferences Between May 1984 and February 1990 was published by the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in 1990. For decades, Roberts argued for action to halt anthropogenic global warming.* {{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/shcgi/pt?id=uiug.30112101711619;view=1up;seq=222|page=216|title=Joint House–Senate colloquium to discuss a national policy for the environment. Hearing before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, and the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, second session|date=July 17, 1968}}

• {{cite news|url=http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/dr-walter-orr-roberts-zmaz84mazgoe.aspx|publisher=Mother Earth News|date=March 1984|author=Mother Earth editors|title=The Plowboy Interview: Dr. Walter Orr Roberts}} In 1984, he published The Cold and the Dark with Paul R. Ehrlich, Carl Sagan, and Donald Kennedy.

Throughout his career, Roberts sought cooperation and exchange with international (including Soviet) scientists. Some of these professional contacts caused him to be investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) beginning in 1947. After failing to obtain a security clearance in 1950, he spent a day and a half at the Pentagon where he was “accused of having a close and sympathetic association with known Communist fronts”. His lawyer advised him to write his autobiography and obtain affidavits (which included a letter from Albert Einstein) proving he didn't attend a lecture he was accused of attending.Remembering Walt Roberts. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 1991, pp. 51–53. An FBI report dated 7/1/47 states “ROBERTS, scientist and Director of the Climax Observatory, Climax, Colorado entertained Russian scientists, A. SERVANY and O. MELNIKOV at Climax 2/17-20/47.” After two redacted lines, the report continues “11/29/46; ROBERTS” articles in “Denver Post” secured and forwarded to Bureau. Informant reports ROBERTS plans to visit Russia shortly. Informants describe ROBERTS as publicity seeker; brilliant scientist; firm believer in international scientific exchange, especially with Russia of all atomic information; international do-gooder. ROBERTS stated that he sees little difference in economy of U.S.S.R. and U.S. ROBERTS is Chairman of Rocky Mountain Committee on Nuclear Energy, such Committee contains persons known to be Communist and Communist sympathizers. ROBERTS listed as a speaker for Denver Council of American-Soviet Friendship.” [https://aspace.archives.ucar.edu/repositories/2/resources/12 Walter Orr Roberts Collection]. NCAR Archives. Walter Orr Roberts was ultimately cleared by the committee and given top secret security clearance in 1950.

Roberts was an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web |title=Walter Orr Roberts |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/walter-orr-roberts |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Walter+Orr+Roberts&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}} The minor planet 3428 Roberts is named after him.{{cite book | last=Schmadel | first=Lutz | authorlink=Lutz D. Schmadel | title=Dictionary of minor planet names | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWrB1jPCa8AC&pg=PA286 | accessdate=2008-12-31 | edition=fifth | year=2003 | publisher=Springer | location=Germany | isbn=3-540-00238-3 | page=286 }}

His wife, Janet Roberts, was a Boulder City Council member.[http://oralhistory.boulderlibrary.org/interview/oh1699/ Reflections on Leadership: Ruth Correll and Janet S. Roberts]. (1999). Maria Rogers Oral History Program, Boulder Public Library. They had four children including David Roberts.

Roberts died of cancer on March 12, 1990.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://aspace.archives.ucar.edu/repositories/2/resources/12?p=collections/controlcard&id=12 NCAR Archives Walter Orr Roberts Collection]
• [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/28418-1 Oral History interview transcript with Walter Orr Roberts 26 July 1983, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives]
• [http://www.fin.ucar.edu/netpub/server.np?find&site=imagelibrary&catalog=catalog&template=detail.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=2881/ Walter Orr Roberts and the Climax coronagraph photo]
• JSTOR: [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1720267 "Walter Orr Roberts, President-Elect," Science, New Series, Vol. 155, No. 3764, Feb. 17, 1967]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c2KAi3H_kc Climate Change – With Head and Heart]

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Category:1915 births

Category:1990 deaths

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:American astronomers

Category:Atmospheric physicists

Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society