Troy Kimmel, UT professor and meteorologist, was named a 2022 fellow for the American Meteorological Society  for his contributions to meteorology and teaching.

Kimmel provides daily Austin weather updates on his website, was a former local broadcast meteorologist and has taught at the University for over 30 years. Eligible fellows are people who have made outstanding contributions to various meteorology related sciences over the years and recipients keep the honor for life, according to the AMS website. 

Kimmel first became involved with AMS when he was an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University in the late 1970s so he could meet more people in the industry. The AMS is one of two professional organizations that meteorologists can belong to in the country along with the National Weather Association. 

“I’ve been a member for over 40 years now,” Kimmel said. “This is truly an honor of a lifetime … and it means more than I can ever express.”

Kimmel currently manages UT’s Weather and Climate Resource Center and serves as a University meteorologist where he keeps the campus informed about severe weather, according to the center’s website. 

Paul Yura, a local National Weather Service meteorologist, first met Kimmel in high school when he shadowed Kimmel who was working as a meteorologist at KVUE at the time. Kimmel is a big supporter of the National Weather Service, Yura said, and he trusts Kimmel to provide helpful input to better the work of the organization.

“(Meteorologists) are called upon to be the weather experts and that’s what (Kimmel) has been for all these decades,” Yura said. “And that’s what being a fellow really is, it’s all those contributions that he has been making over the past several decades.”

Doctoral candidate Daniel Levine said he decided to be a teaching assistant for Kimmel because he is one of the only professors who offers courses centered around weather and climate. 

“He’s a person who’s really passionate about weather (and) teaching but also providing this service to the community through the different responsibilities that he’s taken on,” Levine said. “He has a pretty fun energy that he brings to the material.” 

Kimmel will continue his passion for meteorology by teaching students about weather and climate, he said.

“It just makes me feel good that maybe I’ve contributed in some small way,” Kimmel said. “You continue to do the work that you do, and you hope it’s the best that you can give, and you hope you can give back to society.”