Balfour Watson Currie, (November 1, 1902 – January 8, 1981) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

scientist specializing in the fields of

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

and

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

Early life

Born in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, he came to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

at an early age. His parents moved to a farm homestead at Netherhill, near

Kindersley Kindersley is a town surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Kindersley No. 290 in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Highway 7, a primary highway linking Calgary, Alberta and Saskatoon, at its junction with Highway 21. ...

, in the west central region of the province. Because of his pioneer heritage, he was equally comfortable with internationally renowned scientists or with farmers in the field. He came to the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

as a student and received a Bachelor-level degree in Physics (1925) and a Master-level degree in Physics (1927). His Ph.D. program at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

was completed in 1930.

Career

He was a staff member of the Department of Physics at the

(1928 - 1981), was Professor of Physics (1943–70) Head of the Department (1952–61), founder of the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies (1956–66), Dean of Graduate Studies (1959–70) and Vice-president, Research (1967–74). Upon his retirement as Vice-president, he was appointed by the President of the University to be Special Advisor in Research Matters (1974–78). Later in 1974, he became Canadian Coordinator of the International Magnetospheric Study, and gave it his fullest attention until its completion at the end of 1979. During this period, he also pursued an earlier research interest in the possible influence of solar activity on prairie weather and rainfall. Early in his career, he spent two years in the Canadian Arctic. Currie and Frank Davies worked together at

Chesterfield Inlet Chesterfield Inlet (Inuit: ''Igluligaarjuk'')Issenman, Betty. ''Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing''. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254 is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, an ...

during the Second

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred ...

(1932-1933). An online archive of Currie's work on 2nd IPY studies of the Polar Year data continued under his direction at the

after World War II.

Recognition

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to his fields of study, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Meteorology Society of Great Britain in 1940, and a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

in 1947. In 1967, he received the

Patterson Medal The Patterson Distinguished Service Medal is awarded by the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) to residents of Canada for services rendered to meteorology. The award was created in honor of Mr. John Patterson (meteorologist), John Patterson, a ...

from the

Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society The Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS; ) is the national society of individuals and organisations dedicated to advancing atmospheric and oceanic sciences and related environmental disciplines in Canada. CMOS was officially cr ...

. In 1972, he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

"for his services to science and education especially in the fields of meteorology and climatology". In 1977 he received an honorary Doctor of Science (space research) from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Selected publications

* BW Currie, (1939) ''Earth Currents'', ''

Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada The ''Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada'' (JRASC, ) is a trade magazine and scientific journal, distributed bimonthly to members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. It primarily contains news reports, information about so ...

'', Vol. 33, p. 313
scanned PDF
* WD Penn and BW Currie (1949) ''A recording meter for auroral radiations'', '' Canadian Journal of Research'', Vol. 27
biblio. record
* WG Kendrew, BW Currie (1955) The Climate of Central Canada (book) E. Cloutier, Queen's Printer *BW Currie, (1955) ''Auroral Heights over Central-Western Canada'', ''

Canadian Journal of Physics The ''Canadian Journal of Physics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in physics. It was established in 1929 as the '' Canadian Journal of Research, Section A: Physical Sciences'', obtaining its current title in 1951. ...

'' 33(12): 773-779

References

External links

Obituary - Currie, Balfour-Watson 1902-1981
Obituary in The Journal of the Royal Astron. Soc. of Canada vol. 75 no. 5, p. 219, October 1981.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Balfour 1902 births 1981 deaths Canadian people of American descent Canadian climatologists Canadian meteorologists Canadian university and college faculty deans Canadian university and college vice-presidents Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Presidents of the Canadian Association of Physicists