June Bacon-Bercey

June Esther Bacon-Bercey (née Griffin, born October 23, 1932) is an international expert on weather and aviation[1] who has worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service and the Atomic Energy Commission.[2]

Biography

Bacon-Bercey was born and raised in Wichita.[3] She earned her bachelors degree in 1954 from the University of Kansas and her masters degree in 1955 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[3][4] She began her career as an engineer, when she worked for the Sperry Corporation, then worked for a variety of federal organizations including the United States Atomic Energy Commission (as a consultant), the National Weather Service Aviation Branch, and the National Meteorological Center.[4]

She was the first woman, as well as the first African-American, to be awarded the American Meteorological Society's Seal of Approval for excellence in television weathercasting when she was working in Buffalo, New York in the 1970s. Beginning in 1979, she spent nearly ten years as the chief administrator for Television Weather Activities at NOAA and worked on a number of other projects.[2][4]

In 2000, she was honored during a three-day conference at Howard University for her contributions including: helping to establish a meteorology lab at Jackson State University in Mississippi, her endowment of a scholarship given each year by the American Geophysical Union and her work in California's public schools. Bacon-Bercey was also named a Minority Pioneer for Achievement in Atmospheric Sciences by NASA.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Pat Viets (2000-03-15). "NOAA Supporting Conference in Atmospheric Sciences at Howard University". NOAA. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  2. 1 2 Bill Workman (2000-03-23). "Substitute Science Teacher is a Meteorology Legend". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Spangenburg, Ray; Moser, Kit (2012). African Americans in Science, Math and Invention. Revised by Steven Otfinoski (Revised ed.). Facts on File, Inc. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9780816083312.
  4. 1 2 3 Warren, Wini (1999-01-01). Black Women Scientists in the United States. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253336031.
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