URI Narragansett, R.I. — August 4, 1999 — URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) professor of physical oceanography Hans Thomas Rossby was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. One of the oldest honorary learned societies in the country, the Academy recognizes men and women who are making leading contributions to every profession and scholarly discipline. On October 2, 1999, the Academy will hold its annual Induction Ceremony at the House of the Academy in Cambridge when the 180 elected fellows for 1999 will be inducted into the 4 classes and 22 sections of Academy membership. Rossby will be honored for his work in physical science. Other noted fellows elected for 1999 include Calvin Trillin, Garrison Keillor, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robert Altman, and Meryl Streep. A resident of Narragansett, Rossby has been a professor of oceanography at GSO since 1975. He specializes the dynamics of ocean currents with special interest in the Gulf Stream and the circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean. He also invented the RAFOS float, a cylindrical instrument that is deployed in the ocean at various depths to measure water temperature, water pressure, and current speeds. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society and a member of Sigma Xi and The Oceanography Society. He received a B.S. from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. x-x-x For Information Contact: Lisa Cugini, 874-6642 http://www.gso.uri.edu/