Birthday profile

Gerald North

Gerald North, American climatologist and academic

Born
June 26, 1938
Age in 2026
88
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1938

About Gerald North

Gerald R. North (June 28, 1938 – ) is Distinguished Professor and Holder of the Harold J. Haynes Endowed Chair in Geosciences at Texas A&M University, and previous Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. His interests include climate change using simplified climate models. North was born in Sweetwater, Tennessee to Sanford and Marjorie Hill North. He grew up in nearby Knoxville and received his Bachelor's Degree in physics from the University of Tennessee. In 1966, he earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After a two year post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania, he obtained a tenure track position at the University of Missouri–St. Louis leading to full professor. He spent 1974–75 as a Senior Visiting Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He moved to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 1978 where he was the initial proposer and first Study Scientist for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. He joined Texas A&M University in 1986. In 2005 to 2006 he chaired a United States National Research Council committee investigating surface temperature reconstructions for the last 2,000 years, set up at the request of Representative Sherwood Boehlert, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science. Their report, published in July 2006, is known as the North Report. He is the 2008 recipient of the Jule Charney Award of the American Meteorological Society. He lives in Kyle, Texas with his wife Laura. His Memoir The Rise of Climate Science was released in Spring 2021

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Gerald North was born

Gerald North was born in 1938. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1938

  • #1 song"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald
  • Top movieThe Adventures of Robin Hood
  • Best-selling bookRebecca – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in round 1
  • Top headlineWar of the Worlds broadcast causes nationwide panic
  • Technology milestoneNuclear fission discovered
  • Defining fadSuperman debuts in Action Comics #1
  • Notable inventionInstant coffee (Nescafé)
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population129.8M

1938 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Gerald North's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19382026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,800$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population129.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.