David Stensrud, professor of meteorology at Penn State in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, was voted president-elect of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). He will be inducted to the position on Sunday, January 28, when the AMS meets for its 104th annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.

Stensrud will serve a one-year term as president-elect, and in 2025, he will assume the presidency of the society, which was founded in 1919 and has a membership of nearly 12,000 weather, water, and climate professionals. AMS is the nation’s premier scientific and professional organization promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences.

He has served in many leadership roles with AMS since beginning his membership as a student. He was a member and chair of the Committee on Mesoscale Processes, and editor and co-chief editor of Weather and Forecasting, among others.

“I am very proud of our community for the amazing progress we have made in understanding and predicting the earth system, positively impacting the lives of people across the world,” Stensrud said in a release. “And society’s need for weather, water and climate information will only continue to grow as we prepare for and respond to hazardous events and anthropogenic climate change. AMS plays a key role in these efforts. I hope to strengthen AMS’s continuing work to build a more diverse, inclusive and equitable culture that supports its members as we interact with the wider world. We are stronger and more resilient in community.”

Stensrud started his career at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), where his work focused on the benefits of short-range ensemble forecasting for severe weather prediction. At NSSL, he served as a research meteorologist, team leader, and served as the inaugural manager of the NOAA Warn-on-Forecast program, among other roles with the administration.

Stensrud served as head of the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science from 2014 to 2023, where a cornerstone of his work was increasing diversity within the department.

Stensrud is a recipient of the White House Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the NOAA Distinguished Career Award, the AMS Clarence Leroy Meisinger, and Charles Franklin Brooks Awards and is an AMS Fellow.

Stensrud earned his undergraduate degree in meteorology and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his master’s degree and doctorate in meteorology from Penn State.