Friday, March 11, 2011

Don Dickson 1925-2011


Don Dickson, Professor and Chair Emeritus of the University of Utah Department of Meteorology (now Atmospheric Sciences), passed away earlier this week at the Utah State Veterans Nursing Home.

Don retired long before I arrived at the U and I only met him a few times at Department functions.  As such, I only learned of his incredible accomplishments upon his passing.  He was an American hero.  A WWII verteran, he earned two Purple Hearts, three Bronze Campaign stars, the Air Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon, and the Good Conduct Ribbon.  I feel incredibly humbled and indebted to Don, not only for what he did for my Department, but also for his service as an American.

Don was a professor for 30 years at the U, including 9 years as the Meteorology Department chair.  He is survived by his wife, Myra, 6 children, 20 grandchildren, and 10 great-grand-children.  A full obituary is available here.

All of us at the U express our condolences to Myra and the Dickson family.

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