It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Dr. William M. Gray. William Mason Gray (Bill) passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on April 16th at the age of 86. He had remained active in his hurricane and climate change research up until the time of his death.

Bill was a faculty member at Colorado State University from 1961 through his formal retirement in 2005. But after retirement, he continued his hurricane and climate research as a Professo...r Emeritus until his recent passing. Dr. Gray pioneered seasonal hurricane forecasts for which he became well known, with extensive media coverage in the 1980s and 90s. He graduated 70 masters and Ph.D. students. Many of his ex-graduate students have become very prominent leaders in the field of tropical meteorology today, including several at NHC.