The 1999 Laureates / Basic Sciences Category / Earth and Planetary Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Walter H. Munk

U. S. A. / October 19, 1917
Oceanographer; Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California

During a research career that has spanned more than a half century, Dr. Munk has made fundamental contributions to understanding various ocean waves and tides and the mechanism of oceanic circulation. He was also the first to shed light upon the influence of the atmospheric and oceanic motions on the rotation of the earth, bringing a new development of studies in this field. Through these achievements, he has enormously influenced and promoted the development of earth science, especially oceanography, in the latter half of the 20th century.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
1917
Born in Vienna, Austria
1933
Come to U. S
1939
B. S., California Institute of Technology
1947
Ph. D., in Oceanography, University of California
1947-1954
Associate Professor of Geophysics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California
1954-present
Professor of Geophysics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California

AWARDS AND HONORS
1965
Arthur L. Day Medal, American Geological Society
1966
Sverdrup Gold Medal, American Meteorological Society
1968
Gold Medal, The Royal Astronomical Society
1989
William Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union
Member:
National Academy of Science
Foreign member:
The Royal Society, London
Honorary Member:
American Meteorological Society
The Royal Meteorological Society

MAJOR WORKS
1946
Wind, sea, and swell: theory of relations for forecasting.
(with H. U. Sverdrup) U.S. Hydrographic Office Tech. Rpt.
1950
On the wind-driven ocean circulation.J. Meteorol.
1960
The Rotation of the Earth: A Geophysical Discussion.
(with G. J. F. MacDnald) Cambridge University Press
1972
Space-time scales of internal waves. (with C. Garrett)
Geophys. Fluid Dyn.
1979
Ocean acoustic tomography: a scheme for large scale monitoring.
(with C. Wunsch) Deep-sea Res.
1995
Ocean Acoustic Tomography.(with P. Worcester and other)
Cambridge University Press