Aiguo Dai Named SUNY Distinguished Professor
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 29, 2022) – University at Albany atmospheric scientist Aiguo Dai has been elevated to Distinguished Professor by the State University of New York, the highest academic rank in the SUNY system.
The title is conferred upon SUNY faculty who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within their chosen field. It ranks above full professor and has three co-equal designations: distinguished professor, distinguished service professor and distinguished teaching professor.
Dai, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (DAES) at the College of Arts and Sciences, was appointed to the Distinguished Professor rank by the SUNY Board of Trustees earlier this month.
“By all metrics of evaluation, Professor Dai reaches, and exceeds, the threshold for promotion to Distinguished Professor,” said UAlbany Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Kim. “He has made significant scholarly contributions to the global fight against climate change and is a valuable mentor and educator. We are extremely proud to see him recognized through SUNY’s highest rank.”
“Professor Dai is a world-leading scientist, working in an important research field of national and international relevance,” added DAES Chair and Professor Ryan Torn. “His scholarly record is impeccable, with publications of the highest quality that have received praise and recognition throughout the international community. He is without a doubt one of the world’s preeminent climate scientists. His high standing in the research community has helped elevate the research reputation in our department, the College of Arts and Sciences and the University.”
Highly Cited Researcher
Dai is an internationally renowned climate scientist with a focus on Arctic climate change, natural climate variability, future climate change, the global water cycle, hydroclimate, drought, Asian monsoons and climate data analysis.
With more than 170 peer-reviewed journal articles and an average of 13 peer-reviewed publications annually, Dai has received 49,000-plus citations with an annual citation rate of about 6,000 per year and an H-index of 82. Five of his articles have been cited more than 2,000 times each according to Google Scholar. He is currently the most highly cited scholar at UAlbany and the second most-cited researcher in the overall field of atmospheric science, according to a recent analysis by a Stanford group.
Dai also attracted significant external funding, totaling over $9.4 million, from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NOAA and NASA. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, a designation limited to no more than 0.2 percent of all AMS members.
Dai received his bachelors of science from Nanjing University, his master’s from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Beijing and his PhD in atmospheric science from Columbia University. Before joining UAlbany, he was a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research,from 1997 to 2012, the last four years at NCAR’s second-highest research category, scientist III.
He is currently working on several climate change-related projects, including the causes and impacts of Arctic rapid warming and sea-ice loss, and how Arctic warming may affect mid-latitude weather and climate; how atmospheric thermodynamic conditions may change under increasing greenhouse gases; and how precipitation, droughts and other hydroclimate fields have changed since the 1950s and may change in the future.
More information about his research can be found on Dai's Google Profile.