Anthony Hollingsworth
From UCC Philosophical Society Wiki
Anthony (Tony) Hollingsworth was Auditor for some of the 115th Session of the Philosoph as well as a keen debater. His society activities in UCC were not limited to the Philosoph, however, he was also an active member of the Literary Society and the Music Society.
He studied at Christian Brothers' Secondary School in James's Street Dublin. A particullarly brilliant and gifted student, Tony came first in Ireland in his 1960 Leaving Certificate Examinations.
His obvious talent not only secured him a civil service position in the Department of Finance but also led to his being seconded on scholarship to UCC. Having graduated top of his class with first class honours in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics in 1964 he went on to join the Irish Meteorological Service in 1965.
In 1967 he was awarded the Jonathon Whitney Fellowship in the department of meteorolgy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, where he graduated with a starred PhD in 1970.
He was made a research fellow, in 1971, of the UK Universities Atmospheric Modelling Group at the University of Reading and moved to the UK.
Then, in 1975, he took up the position of senior scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and 32 years later had risen to the the rank of head of the research department and deputy director of the centre itself.
In 2003 he became leader of Global Environment Monitoring Systems project.
He received many awards and honours during his career including a D.Sc from the National University of Ireland and honorary adjunct professor NUI Galway. He was a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a recipient of its Jule G Chamney Award. He was also a Member of the US National Academy of Science.
The United States National Centre for Environmental Prediction described him as "a giant in the field".
He died while on holiday in Galway on 29th July 2007, aged 64.
The Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space comment on the contributions Anthony Hollingsworth made to his field:
"OCR for page R23 ANTHONY HOLLINGSWORTH It was with great sadness that the committee and the panels of the decadal survey learned of the death of Anthony Hollingsworth on July 29, 2007. Tony, a long-time scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, was a giant among his peers in numerical weather prediction and analysis, data assimilation, and the use of weather forecasts to meet broad societal needs. Tony was dedicated to the use of satellite observations of Earth to improve weather predictions for the benefit of society. He worked tirelessly in the scientific and political trenches of the world, always sharing his knowledge and valuable ideas with others in his gentle, unselfish way. He inspired people of all ages throughout his long and productive career, which still ended all too soon. He was a close friend of all who were fortunate enough to know him well. Tony was one of the leaders of the decadal survey, arguing for the importance of diverse observations from satellites and other platforms to produce the most accurate and consistent analysis of the Earth system possible for initializing prediction models of the atmosphere, oceans, and land. He was the primary author of Appendix C, “Blending Earth Observations and Models—The Successful Paradigm of Weather Forecasting,” which tells the story of one of the greatest success stories of Earth science. Tony contributed greatly, as an individual and as a member of many international teams, to this success story. We will miss him greatly. Richard A.Anthes and Berrien Moore III, Co-chairs, on behalf of the Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space and the seven study panels"[[1]]
