Walter Orr Roberts

Building HAO, NCAR, and a Foundation for Scientific Innovation in Boulder

Typewritten page with Roberts' plan for NCAR.

NCAR

Walter Orr Roberts' vision for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1961

Roberts lays out his goals for the new national center, the priorities for scientific research, and the plans for a new laboratory on Table Mesa in Boulder, Colorado. In his words, "[n]o field of scientific research--even atomic energy or medicine or space exploration--offers a greater potential for the good of all mankind than does the field of atmospheric science. As a measure of both the challenge and the rewards in view, the sky is quite literally the limit." Roberts served as director of NCAR until 1968. He was the president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the nonprofit university consortium that manages NCAR, from 1960 to 1973 and continued as a trustee for the rest of his life.

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Home High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, Colorado Writings and Achievements

Walter Orr Roberts was a renowned scientist, leader, and pioneer in the fields of solar-terrestrial study, astronomy, and climate science. He established and directed the High Altitude Observatory (HAO); founded the Department of Astro-Geophysics at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder); served as the first director of the National Center for Atmopheric Research (NCAR); the first president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and led the Program on Food, Climate, and the World’s Future at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. He was a tireless advocate for an active response to climate change, international scientific collaboration, and science education. Beyond these individual accomplishments, he built a scientific community in Boulder, creating long-lasting partnerships, including those between NCAR, HAO, and CU-Boulder that continue to grow and thrive today.

This exhibit brings together material from the NCAR Archives and the Special Collections, Archives, and Preservation at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries to tell the story of Walter Orr Roberts and his significant impact on the institutions he was involved with, and his lasting legacy in the scientific enterprise.