Ralph John Cicerone (May 2, 1943 – November 5, 2016) was an American

atmospheric scientist Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Climatology is the study ...

and administrator. From 1998 to 2005, he was the chancellor of the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. From 2005 to 2016, he was the president of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(NAS). He was a "renowned authority" on

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and

atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science that studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. This multidisciplinary approach of research draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, comput ...

, and issued an early warning about the grave potential risks of climate change.

Early life and education

Cicerone was born in New Castle,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on May 2, 1943, to Salvatore and Louise (Palus) Cicerone. His father, an insurance salesman, was the son of Italian immigrants. Cicerone was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He was captain of MIT's varsity baseball team. After college, he obtained masters and doctoral degrees from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

Career

Cicerone joined the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

as a research scientist, later holding faculty positions in electrical and

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

from 1971 to 1978. In 1978 he moved to the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma. Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

as a research chemist. He was appointed senior scientist and director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division at the

National Center for Atmospheric Research The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundat ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, in 1980. He held this position until 1989 when he joined the

(UCI), as professor of

earth system science Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth. In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosp ...

(having founded the department) and chaired the Department of Earth System Science from 1989 to 1994, when he became Dean of Physical Sciences. Cicerone was recognized on the citation for the 1995

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

awarded to colleague F. Sherwood Rowland. In 1998 he became the fourth

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of UCI. Ralph Cicerone held the position of Chancellor of UC Irvine until 2005, when he left to be President of the National Academy of Sciences. He retired as NAS President in June 2016. In 2001, while chancellor of UCI, Cicerone led an academy panel, commissioned by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, tasked with reporting to him on climate change. The panel concluded unequivocally that "greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise." Cicerone was a member of the

USA Science and Engineering Festival The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a bi-annual science festival held in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 by Larry Bock, the festival is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in the U ...

's Advisory Board, a

Foreign Member of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

, the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

, the

Korean Academy of Science and Technology The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) is South Korea's highest academy of science and serves as an integrated think-tank for the country's science and technology. It contributes to national development by promoting science and tech ...

. He also served as president of the American Geophysical Union, the world's largest society of earth scientists.

Honors, awards and legacy

He was the 1999 laureate for the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science. The

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

awarded him its James B. Macelwane Award in 1979 for outstanding contributions to geophysics by a young scientists and later in 2002 its Roger Revelle Medal for outstanding research contributions to the understanding of Earth's atmospheric processes,

biogeochemical cycle A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cyc ...

s, and other key elements of the climate system. The

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1982 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

honored him with the

Albert Einstein World Award of Science The Albert Einstein World Award for Science is an annual award given by the World Cultural Council "as a means of recognition and encouragement for scientific and technological research and development", with special consideration for researche ...

in 2004. Cicerone revived the baseball program at UC Irvine in 2002, while he was its chancellor. The

baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...

at UC Irvine's

Anteater Ballpark Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark is the ballpark at the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, United States. It is the home stadium of the UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team. Opened in 2002, the stadium has 908 seats and ca ...

was named after Cicerone in 2009. Ralph Cicerone and his wife Carol Cicerone

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are ...

a graduate

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

at UCI in 2009.

Personal life

Cicerone was married to Carol M. (Ogata) Cicerone (a professor of

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

s at the UCI during the Cicerone's time at the university) and had a daughter and two grandchildren. He was an avid baseball fan who played varsity baseball during college at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. Cicerone died unexpectedly at his home in the Short Hills section of

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in southwestern Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's ...

on November 5, 2016.

References

External links

Archival collections

Ralph J. Cicerone papers.
Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
University of California, Irvine, Chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone records.
Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Other

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cicerone, Ralph J. 1943 births 2016 deaths Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates People from Millburn, New Jersey People from New Castle, Pennsylvania Chancellors of the University of California, Irvine Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scripps Institution of Oceanography alumni MIT School of Engineering alumni Grainger College of Engineering alumni University of Michigan faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Foreign members of the Royal Society Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Atmospheric chemists University of California, Irvine faculty Members of Academia Sinica Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates Members of the American Philosophical Society