Hsiao-Lan Kuo (Guo Xiaolan; 1915–2006) was a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

. He was a recipient of the

Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal The Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal is the highest award for atmospheric science of the American Meteorological Society. It is presented to individual scientists, who receive a medal. Named in honor of meteorology and oceanography pioneer Carl- ...

Career

Born in Mancheng County, Hebei Province on February 7, 1915, Kuo obtained his B.Sc. from

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

(1937), a M.Sc. from

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

(1942, under advisor

Coching Chu Coching Chu (; March 7, 1890 – February 7, 1974) was a Chinese geologist and meteorologist. Born in Shangyu, Zhejiang, Chu went to United States for his college education in 1910. He graduated from the College of Agriculture, University of ...

), and a Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

(1948, advisor

Carl-Gustaf Rossby Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby ( 28 December 1898 – 19 August 1957) was a Swedish-born American meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics. He identified and characterized both the jet ...

). From 1949 to 1961, Kuo worked as a research associate, later a senior specialist, and finally the project director on the Hurricane Project at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). He was Professor Emeritus at the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Kuo was an academician of

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

(1988 election).

Works

Kuo developed important mathematical tools to describe the complex circulation patterns of atmospheric activity. He helped to mathematically model the birth of a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

(hurricane). Kuo's work is an important part of the theoretical foundation for modern meteorology. He is considered as a member of the ''Chicago School of Meteorology'', which started from Carl-Gustaf Rossby. For this reason, in 1970, Kuo was awarded the

from the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the Atmospheric sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

(AMS), which is the highest honor for atmospheric science.AMS Award Descriptions
: ''The Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal'' The ''Rayleigh-Kuo theorem'' or ''Rayleigh-Kuo Criterion'', a necessary condition for barotropically unstable fluid, is named after him.

References

External links

* Obituary notice
Hsiao-Lan Kuo, meteorologist, 1915-2006
* ''Britannica''
Hsiao-lan Kuo (Chinese-American meteorologist)

A memorial of professor Guo Xiaolan
* Chinese Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuo, Hsiao-Lan American meteorologists 1915 births 2006 deaths Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal recipients Zhejiang University alumni University of Chicago alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Chinese emigrants to the United States Members of Academia Sinica Tsinghua University alumni