John S. Allen (1937-2023)

[wilkin]

The coastal ocean modeling and dynamics community has lost an influential and insightful colleague and mentor. John S. Allen authored over 100 papers https://oregonstate.box.com/s/ykejvhu8t ... dhri98xtda on coastal ocean and shelf sea currents, instabilities, coastal trapped waves, upwelling and data assimilation, many of which entailed in-depth analysis of results from 3-dimensional primitive equations models (POM and ROMS).

John was a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society and received the AMS Henry Stommel Research Medal in 2005 “for his insightful and rigorous elucidation of ocean processes over the continental shelf and slope.”

He was a regular attendee at the series of Gordon Research Conferences on coastal ocean circulation (which he chaired in 2001), modeling, and dynamics, where his insightful questions fostered the further discussion and debate that is a hallmark of GRC meetings.

[zhang]

I am so sorry to hear about this. Thanks for sharing, John, W. We have lost a giant of the community. I didn't get to interact too much with John Allen. But I have read a lot of his papers, which have helped me a lot, particularly, on the topic of coastal-trapped waves. I vividly remember all the great questions John Allen asked in the first GRC I attended at Colby Sawyer in 2005 when I was a second-year graduate student. Someone even counted all the questions he asked and announced it at the end of the conference. I remember it was a big number. He basically asked every speaker multiple questions. I was very curious at that time how he could know everything. I also remember I asked one question, and Bob Chant praised my question afterward by saying that John Allen smiled when I asked the question.

Gordon

[pmaccc]

Indeed. So much of what we are able to do in our field has relied on the ideas, tools, and persistent encouragement that he provided. Let us all grab a chair in the front row in his honor.

[drivas]

A very big loss indded! Another great oceanographer to miss... My condolences to his friends and close colleagues...

[arango]

John will be missed, RIP. Chatting with him was always interesting. I remember visiting his office at OSU when we took the summer IOMS course with Andrew Bennett. I don't know how he was able to work at his desk. He had mountains of papers, journals, and books on it, blocking the view of who was sitting at the desk. We discussed aspects of ROMS early in its development, and he was interested in the governing equations of term-by-term diagnotics.

[zhang]

Message from OSU:

CEOAS and POA will be holding an event in recognition of Professor John Allen next week on Monday, October 23 starting at 3:00 pm (PT). Speakers will include Tuba Özkan-Haller, Doug Caldwell, Ken Brink, and Dudley Chelton. This event will be held in person in Burt 193 and also available on Zoom at the link below.

https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/984784674 ... hQTDZNUT09