Professor Emeritus Robert E. Dickinson Passes Away

September 18, 2026

Dear Jackson School community,

It is with profound sadness that I am sharing with you that our former colleague, friend, and mentor Professor Emeritus Robert E. Dickinson passed away on September 11, 2026.

Bob joined the Jackson School in 2008 and remained here until his retirement in 2018. Prior to coming to The University of Texas at Austin and the Jackson School, Bob was a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology for nine years, a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona for nine years, and prior to that a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for 22 years. He received his B.S. in chemistry and physics from Harvard and his M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from MIT.

During his illustrious career he received numerous awards from AGU and AMS and was elected to both the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1988 and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2002. He was also elected as a foreign member to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006. If you would like to know more about his remarkable and pioneering career, please see his Wikipedia page and his obituary on the AGU’s website.

Bob was a true giant in climate system science, atmospheric dynamics, and earth system modeling. He was also an exceptional mentor and valued colleague. He had a longstanding connection to the Jackson School, where he served for 10 years as a faculty member with distinction. Bob’s spouse Dr. Rong Fu was also a professor in the Jackson School from 2008-2016 and has been a Professor in Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences at UCLA since 2016.

I would like to express my sincere condolences and deepest sympathies to Rong, and Bob’s family as well as his friends, colleagues, and mentees around the globe and particularly at the Jackson School.

With deep sympathy,
Dean Danny Stockli