Dr. Kerry Andrew Emanuel stands as a preeminent figure in atmospheric science with a distinguished career spanning over four decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently holds the Cecil and Ida Green Professorship of Atmospheric Science at MIT, having joined the faculty in 1981 after three years as a professor at UCLA. His academic foundation was established at MIT where he earned both his S.B. in Earth and Planetary Sciences and his Ph.D. in Meteorology in 1978 under the supervision of Jule Charney. Throughout his tenure at MIT, he has held significant leadership positions including Director of the EAPS Center for Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from 1989 to 1997 and Chair of the EAPS Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate from 2009 to 2012.
Professor Emanuel's groundbreaking research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of tropical meteorology and hurricane physics, establishing him as the world's leading authority on the relationship between climate change and hurricane activity. He pioneered the investigation into how long-term climate change might affect hurricane activity, becoming the first scientist to predict that hurricanes would intensify as the climate warms—a finding that has since been validated by subsequent research. His influential 1994 hypothesis about hypercane formation under extreme warming conditions demonstrated visionary thinking about potential climate extremes. With over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and three authoritative books including Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes and What We Know about Climate Change, his work has shaped both academic understanding and public discourse on climate issues.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Emanuel has profoundly influenced the field through his leadership as co-director of MIT's Lorenz Center, a climate think tank dedicated to fundamental curiosity-driven research on climate systems. His exceptional contributions have been recognized through election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, along with receiving the prestigious Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal. As evidenced by the 2022 symposium celebrating his 41 years at MIT, his work continues to shape multiple scientific domains from tropical cyclone risk forecasting to understanding atmospheric circulation patterns. Professor Emanuel remains actively engaged in advancing climate science through innovative research on hurricane physics and climate change, with his ongoing work promising further insights into Earth's complex atmospheric systems.
