Arnold L. Gordon
Dr. Arnold Gordon is a field-going physical oceanographer and observationalist. His research is directed at the ocean’s stratification, circulation, and mixing, and its role in Earth’s climate system. He studies the transfer of heat and freshwater within the ocean and between the ocean, cryosphere, and atmosphere. Dr. Gordon views the ocean as a global system, with specific attention to interocean exchange and the ventilation of the deep ocean interior through sea-air-ice interaction. Comparison and extension of observational data with model results are an increasingly important part of his research. Historically, much of his research deals with the Southern Ocean and South Atlantic, but research within the warmer waters of the Maritime Continent and Indian Ocean now composes most of his research program. Recently, his focus has been on the role of the ocean mesoscale in the transfer of heat and freshwater to compensate for net sea-air flux. Dr. Gordon tends to go to areas that have been neglected by the research community but have the potential of being key players in the global system.
Education
- Ph.D. Columbia University, 1965
- B.S. CUNY Herbert Lehman College, 1961
- Sc.D. Honoris causa University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2005
Honors and Awards
- The ninth Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal (awarded by WHOI), 1984
- AGU Ewing Medal, 1999
- AGU Fellow, 1989
- Fellow, American Meteorological Society, 1994
- Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 1989
- Hunter College Hall of Fame, 1985
- American Polar Society Honorary Membership, 2000
- Prince Albert I medal, 2013
- Fellow, Association for the Advancement of American Science, 2013
- Fellow, The Oceanography Society, 2015
- AMS Henry Stommel Research Medal, 2020
- AGU Harald Sverdrup Lecture, 2020