UCAR Distinguished Achievement Award

Roy’s scientific accomplishments span observational and modeling advances, synthesizing both to gain insights from cloud and precipitation formation to Earth-System climate perspectives. His most significant contributions as a scientist and leader include his seminal work on winter-weather observation and prediction, and its safety benefits to the aviation industry (e.g., deicing guidance). His leadership of the NCAR water systems program since its inception in 2001, and the pioneering development of innovative regional to continental-scale convection-permitting past/future climate datasets, have demonstrated a remarkable agreement with the observed phase, frequency, and intensity of precipitation. These efforts have underpinned valuable work that answered societally relevant research questions.

Roy has received many accolades for his work. He won the prestigious UCAR Outstanding Publication Award a record four times and received a UCAR Scientific and/or Technical Advancement Award as well. In 2020, Roy was honored with the Aviation Industry Weather Prize, and in 1999, he received the Government Technology Leadership Award. In 2004 he became a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Roy also holds around a dozen patents and has written about 200 peer-reviewed papers that have garnered roughly 20,000 citations to date.