Professor Emeritus Anandu Vernekar Passes Away at Age 90

Professor Emeritus Anandu Vernekar passed away on June 11^th 2021.

Anandu arrived at UMD in 1969, being among the first set of academic hires at the Institute for Fluid Dynamics and Applied Mathematics (IFDAM), where the nascent Graduate Program in Meteorology (precursor to the Department of Meteorology) resided. Anandu obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966 under Danish meteorologist Aksel C. Wiin-Nielsen, who established the meteorology program at Ann Arbor before moving to ECMWF as Director. Anandu’s postdoctoral work was with climate theorist Barry Saltzman at the Travelers Research Center (and Yale Univ.) in Hartford (1967-68).

Anandu served UMD and the Department with distinction as Professor, valued teacher, research mentor, and Acting Chair of the Department of Meteorology (AOSC’s predecessor) during 1989-1990. Anandu’s interests evolved over decades: From General Circulation of the Atmosphere (diagnosis and impact of mean meridional flow on the axisymmetric circulation; doctoral work) to Paleoclimate (statistical-dynamical modeling of the zonally-averaged circulation, introducing dynamics to the energy-balance models; postdoc and early years at UMD); to Modeling of Stationary Waves (using statistical-dynamical models; e.g., KNMI Sabbatical); and Climate and Monsoon Modeling (e.g., using high-resolution eta-coordinate models, orographic gravity wave drag; the 1990s).

Anandu retired in 2002 with an Emeritus rank and continued to live in College Park while spending time with his children and grandchildren.