Paul James Hardaker (born 1966) is a

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

Biography

Hardaker is chair of the board of

Sense about Science Sense about Science is a United Kingdom charitable organization that promotes the public understanding of science. Sense about Science was founded in 2002 by Lord Taverne, Bridget Ogilvie and others to promote respect for scientific evidence an ...

and is the former Chief Executive Officer of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

. Hardaker has a background in mathematics, and completed his PhD in

radar meteorology A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...

at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. He has worked at institutes such as

British Telecom BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

Research Labs, the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

, the

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the At ...

. He worked at the

Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

for 14 years in a variety of roles including the Met Office's chief adviser to government, providing support to the government in areas such as climate change policy, the civil contingency programme and the UK's Public Met Service, before eventually becoming the first Chief Executive of the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...

in 2006, until 2012. Hardaker was a founding editor of the Atmospheric Science Letters journal. Hardaker was chairman of the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

and directed the programme on the Flood Risk from Extreme Events (FREE). He holds a visiting professorship at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

and previously the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

. For five years he was also a non-executive director on the Board of Berkshire West

Primary Care Trust Primary care trusts (PCTs) were part of the National Health Service in England from 2001 to 2013. PCTs were largely administrative bodies, responsible for commissioning primary, community and secondary health services from providers. Until 31 May ...

and was actively involved with local and regional healthcare initiatives. In 2015 Hardaker was reported to be the 8th highest paid charity CEO in the UK. Hardaker is also a

Fellow of the Institute of Physics Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gaine ...

(FInstP), Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (FRMetS), and Chartered Meteorologist (CMet).

References

External links

Institute of Physics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardaker, Paul Living people 1966 births Academics of the University of Reading Academics of the University of Salford Alumni of the University of Essex Royal Meteorological Society Institute of Physics Fellows of the Institute of Physics