Joseph Moran
Green Bay - Joseph M. Moran, 74, died peacefully Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at Angel's Touch Assisted Living in Ledgeview. Joseph was born February 14, 1944, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph P. and Mary (Harkins) Moran.
In 1961, Joe graduated from the Xaverian Brothers Mission High School in Boston. He received a B.S. in Geology in 1965 and an M.S. in Geophysics in 1967, both from Boston College. In the fall of 1967, Joe moved to Madison and received a Ph.D. in Meteorology from UW-Madison in 1972.
Joe began his teaching career at UWGB in 1972 and retired as a Professor of Natural Sciences in 2001. He loved to teach and in 1993 received the first University of Wisconsin Regents Award for Teaching Excellence. His humor and occasionally exaggerated Boston accent kept his students engaged, whether he was teaching meteorology, earth science or environmental science.
In 1991, Joe was named the Barbara Hauxhurst Cofrin Professor of Natural Science and in 1994 received the Boston College Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and was included in the American Men and Women of Science.
After a weekend of retirement from UWGB, Joe joined the staff of the American Meteorological Society Education Program in Washington, D.C. as an Associate Director, a position he held until 2013. He produced teaching material in the Atmospheric Sciences for K through college, including textbooks in Weather Studies, Oceanography and Climatology. Each summer, Joe taught a workshop for teachers at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City. In 2000, Joe was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society for his contributions to the science of meteorology. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. In 2013, AMS presented Joe with their award for Outstanding Service to Precollege Education.
During his forty-plus year professional career, Joe co-authored over twenty books and more than 150 peer-reviewed articles. In keeping with the early mission of UWGB, he co-authored one of the first textbooks in the new field of Environmental Science.
Joe is survived by his wife, Jennifer M. Tillis. They were married in Green Bay on August 22, 1985. He is also survived by his brother, Francis T. Moran of Wareham, Massachusetts; sister, Margaret (Wayne) Carver; nephew, Judson (Monica) Carver; in-laws, Wendy (Tillis) and Joseph Schlueter of Noblesville, Indiana; nephew, Andrew C. (Meghan Sheehan) Schlueter of Xenia, Ohio, and Stephanie D. Schlueter of Baltimore, MD.
Visitation will be held at Proko-Wall Funeral Home, 1630 E. Mason St, on Monday, June 25, 2018, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. There will be no formal services. Burial will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the family at the Prokowall website.
Special thanks to Amanda and all the staff at Angel's Touch and Jed from Compassus Hospice for the outstanding care and support during a difficult time.
Published in Green Bay Press-Gazette from June 22 to June 24, 2018. Reprinted with permission from Laurie Bolle, Regional Director of Sales – Gannett Regional Sales Center, USA Today Network.
Joseph Moran, 1979
Campus mourns passing of Prof. Emeritus ‘Joe’ Moran
He began teaching at UW-Green Bay in 1969 as an instructor of meteorology in the College of Environmental Sciences and retired as a professor of Natural and Applied Sciences in 2001 with emeritus status. In 1993 he received the Founders Award for Teaching Excellence. Also in 1993 the UW System Regents Teaching Award, cited Moran for his “profound ability to communicate subject matter effectively and inspire in students an enthusiasm for learning.”
“His humor and occasionally exaggerated Boston accent kept his students engaged, whether he was teaching meteorology, earth science or environmental science,” the obituary reads. In 1991, Moran was named the Barbara Hauxhurst Cofrin Professor of Natural Science and in 1994 received the Boston College Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and was included in the American Men and Women of Science.
Moran consistently received high rankings in student and peer evaluations. In a statement of his teaching philosophy, Moran explained “I learned to respect students as people, to recognize their strengths, to deal honestly with their short-comings, to encourage them to tackle things that they didn’t think they could do, to be ever vigilant for the late-bloomer and to encourage them to keep their university experience in its proper perspective.”
This entry was posted on Inside UW-Green Bay News on June 22, 2018 by Sue Bodilly.