OBITUARY NOTICE
RENOWNED
NATIONAL OCEAN SCIENCE LEADER WILLIAM A. NIERENBERG DIRECTOR EMERITUS
OF SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY
 William A. Nierenberg, who served from 1965 to 1986 as director of
Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor of marine
sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), died of
cancer on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2000, at his home in La Jolla, Calif. He
was 81.
His career has been characterized by his intense drive, from a
childhood
of poverty to a widely acknowledged stature in science.
Primarily known for his work in low-energy nuclear physics, he was a
leading expert in several fields of underwater research and warfare.
Nierenberg had a long record of national and international service,
beginning with his participation as a young, scientific section leader
on the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1945. In addition, he served as
Assistant Secretary General for Scientific Affairs at NATO from 1960
to 1962. He held memberships in several prestigious
associations, including the National Academy of Science, the National
Academy of Engineering, and the American Philosophical Society.
"Bill Nierenberg served Scripps Institution of Oceanography the
longest of
any of its nine
directors, and he had a profound impact on the institution and in the
national science arena. His far-reaching contributions to science,
national policy, and Scripps have truly benefitted the world of
science," said Charles F. Kennel, director of Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
"The impact of Bill Nierenberg's two decades of academic and
scientific
leadership on Scripps and UCSD is immeasurable," said UCSD
Chancellor
Robert C. Dynes. "His passion and enthusiasm for science and the
institution have helped Scripps and UCSD achieve their
prominence."
During his career, Nierenberg served on various panels of the
Presidents' Science Advisory Committee. In 1971 he was appointed
chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere
and served on this committee until 1977. He was a member of the
National Science Board from 1972 to 1978 and was appointed for another
term from November l982 to May 1988.
Nierenberg had been a consultant to the National Security Agency, the
Institute for Naval Analyses, and the Department of Defense, including
more than 20
years of service on a prestigious panel of advisors to the military,
called JASON. In 1976 he was appointed one of two senior
consultants to the then newly formed White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP). He was a member of the NASA Advisory
Council and served as its first chairman from 1978 to 1982. He
was an elected member of the Council of the National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) from 1979 to 1982 and had been a member of the Academy
since 1965. He was chairman of the NAS National Research
Council's Carbon Dioxide Assessment Committee and the OSTP Technology
Policy Acid Rain Peer Review Panel, whose reports "Changing
Climate" and "Acid Rain" were published in 1984.
Nierenberg had served as Senior Consultant to the Defense Science
Board, a member of the Marine Science Sub-Committee of the Advisory
Committee of Law of the Sea, and an advisor-at-large to the Department
of State, since 1968. In 1981-82 he served as president of Sigma
Xi, the Scientific Research Society, the nation's largest scientific
society.
He was born in New York City in 1919. He attended the University
of Paris
in 1937-38, returning home to receive his B.S. degree from the City
College of New York in 1939, graduating with honors. He received
his master's degree in 1942
and a Ph.D. degree in 1947 in physics from Columbia University.
He served as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Foreign
Secretary, National Academy of Engineering, and as Advisor for the
Fondazione Internazionale Premio E. Balzan (the Balzan Prize) in
Milan.
Nierenberg received numerous awards and honors for professional
research and public service. In 1958 he was selected as the first E.
O. Lawrence Memorial Lecturer by the National Academy of Sciences.
He was recipient of the Golden Dolphin Award of the Association
Artistico Letteraria Internazionale (1968) of Florence, Italy.
He was awarded the Medal of "Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite"
from the government of France in 1971. In 1975 he was the
recipient of the Compass Award of the Marine Technology Society.
He was awarded the Procter Prize by Sigma Xi in 1977. In 1982 he
received NASA's highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Public
Service Medal.
During his retirement, Nierenberg wrote a number of important
historical papers. In 1996, he wrote a biography of
oceanographer Harald Sverdrup, whom he
much admired, for the Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of
Sciences. He continued to be active as a science consultant and
advisor.
He was a member of the Aviation and Space Historical Museum
Foundation, Los Angeles, and The East African Wild Life Society,
Nairobi. He became a member of the Institut de la Vie, Paris in
July 1986. He was a trustee of The Oceanic Society. He was
a member of the Baja Bush Pilots and many other clubs.
Nierenberg is survived by his wife Edith, son Nicolas, and daughter
Victoria Tschinkel.
An interment service is being held at El Camino Memorial Park in San
Diego on Monday, Sept. 11, at 2 p.m. The family is setting up a
foundation to support Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Gifts can
be made to the foundation. For more information, please contact the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Development Office, 858/822-1866.
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