Joel Myers

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Joel N. Myers is founder, president and chairman of the board of AccuWeather, Inc., the nation's best-known commercial weather service. AccuWeather provides forecasts and data to over 175,000 clients around the world and serves millions more through its free website, AccuWeather.com. AccuWeather's global headquarters is located in State College, Pennsylvania, and employs over 400 people, over 70% of whom are Penn State graduates.[1]

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[edit] Early years

Dr. Myers is a native of Philadelphia, PA. He became interested in weather as a child, and by age seven had decided he wanted to become a meteorologist. He first conceived the idea of founding a commercial weather company at age eleven.

A graduate of Philadelphia's Central High School, Dr. Myers began his college career at the Ogontz campus of The Pennsylvania State University, transferring to the main campus as a sophomore. He went on to receive his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from The Pennsylvania State University.

[edit] Career

Dr. Myers has been a weather forecaster since November 15, 1962 when he began forecasting the weather for a gas utility company in Pennsylvania while he was a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University.

Myers served on the faculty of Penn State from 1964 until 1981 as instructor, lecturer and assistant professor and had taught weather forecasting to approximately 17% of all practicing meteorologists in the United States upon retirement from active teaching in 1981.[2]

Dr. Myers has authored more than 75 articles and papers on a wide range of technical and business subjects and has given hundreds of speeches and presentations. He has appeared on The ABC Nightly News, To Tell the Truth, Larry King Live and has been quoted in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, National Geographic, The Economist, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, Forbes and in more than 500 magazines and newspapers. As a weather broadcaster for 18 years, he has been seen and heard on major media nationwide and is generally considered the nation’s most respected source on the business of meteorology and how it affects industry and consumers. The New York Times in 1971 called Dr. Myers “the most reliable man in the forecasting business.”

Dr. Myers has been called upon several times by the U.S. Congress, National Research Council, and U.S. National Weather Service to testify as an expert on weather forecasts and information and on the respective roles of the government and private sector weather services.

Dr. Myers was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs as one of the 528 greatest entrepreneurs in American history. [3] Dr. Myers has also served on the Board of Directors of Team Pennsylvania since 1998, where he has been appointed by three Pennsylvania governors. Among his numerous awards and recognitions are the National Weather Association Individual Achievement Award (2004), the Ernst & Young Western Pennsylvania Entrepreneur Of The Year Award (2003)[4], the Theodor Herzel Award of The Jerusalem Fund of Aish Ha Torah (2000), election to the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (2000), and the American Cancer Society’s Excalibur Award (1998).

[edit] AccuWeather, Inc.

Dr. Myers founded AccuWeather in 1962 as a consulting practice serving commercial customers. The company's first full-time employee was Elliot Abrams, now AccuWeather Chief Forecaster. AccuWeather began to serve television and radio clients in 1971 and subsequently expanded its media reach to newspapers. The company launched a free destination site, AccuWeather.com, on the Worldwide Web in 1996 and entered the wireless arena in 2002. By 2007, the company's website for wireless was ranked as the tenth most visited wireless site in the United States. AccuWeather also has an active presence in the fields of convergence and digital signage and contines to expand its services to customers in business, government and education.

Additional information about Dr. Myers' company may be found at the main article on AccuWeather.

[edit] Other Interests

Dr. Myers also has long had an interest in business and investments. He is a certified Commodity Traders Advisor, and operates futures and hedge funds as principal of Weather Prophets, Inc.

He also continues his lifelong interest in education as a Pennsylvania State University Trustee, a position which he has held since 1982.

[edit] References

  1. ^ PSU Board of Trustees-Joel Myers
  2. ^ PSU Board of Trustees-Joel Myers
  3. ^ Anthony Hallett and Diane Hallet. Entrepreneur Magazine Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs. New York: Wiley, 1997. ISBN 978-0471175360
  4. ^ 160219532194

[edit] External links