Asia-Pacific Typhoon Collaborative Research Center’s Science Director Prof. Johnny Chung Leung Chan has been selected to receive the US Colorado State University Atmospheric Science Department Outstanding Alum award this year on 10 September.

Prof. Chan has been serving as Science Director of the AP-TCRC since 2023, and he is a Special Expert of the China Meteorological Administration. Prof. Chan received his Ph.D from Colorado State University in 1982. After that he has been active on the international stage and served in various prestigious governmental and academic roles, including Scientific Officer in the Royal Observatory Hong Kong, Chair Professor of Applied Physics/Atmospheric Science and Founding Dean of the School of Energy and Environment,at the City University of Hong Kong, Chair of the Tropical Cyclone Panel of the Tropical Meteorology Research Programme of the WMO, and co-chair of the 6th International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones. Prof. Chan’s prestigious leadership positions and awards also attest to his stature in the field. He served as President of the Atmospheric Science Section of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, and was awarded Distinguished Meteorologist by the Hong Kong Observatory. Prof. Chan was elected as Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 2011, Honorary Fellow of the UK Energy Institute in 2013, and Honorary Member of the Asia-Oceania Geosciences Society in 2024.

Throughout his career, Prof. Chan has conducted breakthrough research on tropical cyclones (TCs). He contributed the first papers to identify the role of the beta effect on the steering of TCs, was the first to identify the relationship between TC activity in the western North Pacific and ENSO, and then extended these linkages to the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, leading to the first-ever real-time seasonal forecasting of TC activity in the western North Pacific. He has played leadership roles in studies of the relationship between climate change and TC activity.