Honorary Degree for Broadcast Meteorology Pioneer Joe D’Aleo

Weather Channel Cofounder and Former Faculty Member to Receive Honorary Doctorate

May 5, 2014

Lyndon State College President Joe Bertolino will award Joseph D’Aleo an honorary doctoral degree for his “accomplishments as an educator and a pioneer in the field of broadcast meteorology” at the College’s Commencement Ceremony on May 18. D’Aleo was among the first professors recruited to Lyndon to teach meteorology after the program migrated from Belknap College in 1974 and he helped oversee the program’s early and rapid growth from 37 to 137 students.

While at Lyndon, D’Aleo also helped establish an Air Force ROTC program, a campus weather service, and a weather forecast company-known today as North Winds Weather-that hired students for radio and ski area forecasting. He was instrumental in developing a co-op internship program and the Northeast Storm Conference, which held its 39th annual conference in March.

Bertolino said, “One of Mr. D’Aleo’s greatest legacies as a Lyndon professor was the relationships he developed with the more than 200 students in his classes during his six-years at the College. Due to his passion for and skill in teaching, he helped establish Lyndon as one of the premier weather forecasting schools in the country.”

After leaving Lyndon in 1980, D’Aleo’s expertise in broadcast meteorology led him to a partnership with John Coleman, who at the time was the weathercaster for ABC’s Good Morning America. D’Aleo and Coleman turned Coleman’s vision for a 24-hour, 7-day a week television station dedicated to weather forecasting into The Weather Channel. Twelve of the first 16 meteorologists at The Weather Channel came from LSC.

Bertolino adds, “This is a well-deserved acknowledgement of Mr. D’Aleo’s passion for students, excellence as an educator, and life accomplishments in shaping the field of broadcast meteorology. I look forward to making this presentation at this year’s Commencement Ceremony.”