Phil Church (Footnote to Departmental History)

On August 23, 1999, William B. Beyers reported to the Geography faculty that Phil Church, who was a climatologist at the UW and started what is today the UW Atmospheric Science Department (as a breakaway from geography) still taught a variety of climatology classes at the UW in the late 1950's; Beyers took at least two from him and still has notes from these classes in his office. Beyers recalls that Church also was a pioneer in the Washington wine industry and had helped to determine that "the climate east of the Cascades was tops for French varietals". (See also Ron Irvine who has recently chronicled Church's work in a book on the Washington wine industry entitled "The Wine Project: Washington State's Winemaking History," telling a detailed story of the people and events that shaped this industry)

Return to Geography Department History (Velikonja)
1999 [krumme@u.washington.edu]