Dr. John C. Freeman

Dr. John C. Freeman was a man admired by many for his dedication to the education of thousands of scientists. He spent his life educating others in the fields of meteorology, mathematics, physics, and oceanography. At Texas A&M University and at the University of St. Thomas, he taught young people the value of understanding the science of weather and weather safety. At Weather Research Center, he taught graduate meteorologists the "art" of marine and tropical weather forecasting and the science of hurricane predictions. The Weather Museum was his dream, to continue to educate people of all ages about the weather and weather safety. Not everyone believed The Weather Museum would be a reality, but Dr. Freeman always knew that it would, and here it is today.

Dr. Abelardo Saavedra

Following Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people were uprooted from their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi, and fled or were evacuated to Houston area. For thousands of children, life as they knew it was turned upside down. Dr. Abelardo Saavedra, Superintendent of the Houston Independent School Distrcit, and his many teachers made a determined effort to incorporate as many as possible as quickly as possible into the Houston Schools. For those children, a return to the normalcy of going to school each day started them back on the road to recovery. Classrooms were found, teachers hired, and students located and registered. Many other districts in the area followed suit, and the important task of education continued for children who might have lost an entire semester in their education. Dr. Saavedra has implemented many programs to bring dropouts back in the schools and educated all students with the idea that college is both attainable and necessary for the future.

Dr. Neil Frank

Dr. Neil Frank has dedicated his life to educating people about hurricanes and their impact. Like Dr. Freeman, Dr. Frank started his career in the U.S. Air Force as a weather officer, then went on to become the director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida. After 13 years as Director, he became the Chief Meteorologist for KHOU Channel 11 in Houston. What many do not know is that while his television job is the 6pm and 10 news, he spends many of his days before work speaking to children, adults, and seniors on the hazards of weather and promoting weather safety. He has also spent much of his "spare time" promoting safer building codes in hurricane prone areas, use of hurricane clips on homes near the coast, and above all safety in weather events. His many papers have affected the academic community, but his public speaking and weather forecasts have had a much bigger effect on the general population. In 1998, Dr. Frank helped foster the dream of a Weather Museum in Houston by having KHOU, Kroger, and Weather Research Center partner on a Houston Weather Almanac. For his efforts of educating the public and supporting the Weather Museum, we honor him with our Weather Hero Award.