Fujita, Tetsuya Theodore, 1988-02-25

Oral history interview with Tetsuya Theodore Fujita, 1988. Interviewed by Richard Rotunno. 1 sound cassette (ca. 1 hr.) : analog, mono + Transcript (19 pgs.). AMS 30; one version (one master). Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Dr. Fujita's early years in Japan and growing interest in natural phenomena and measurement are discussed, followed by a description of his education at Tokyo University leading to his thesis, an analytical study of typhoons. He recounts his work as research assistant on the Thunderstorm Project under Horace Byers; his professorship at the University of California; his first major field project studying clouds at San Francisco Mountain in Flagstaff, Arizona; his interest in mesoscale disturbances; his investigation of a tornadic storm in Fargo, North Dakota; and the sometimes conflicting ideas in research, the resistance to and the eventual acceptance of his theories relating to downbursts and tornadoes. Dr. Fujita explains his interest in expanding his research on wind and storms to a global scale.