CEDAR email: Dr. John Olivero Obituary

[Hickey, Michael P.]

John Olivero (1941 – 2023) – Obituary and Celebration of Life

John Joseph Olivero, 82, of Holly Hill, FL, passed away on September 16, 2023. He was born on January 18, 1941, in Yonkers, New York. His family moved to Miami Springs - Hialeah FL in 1947, when he was six years old. After graduating from Hialeah High School in 1959 John attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics in 1962. He received his Master of Science in Physics in 1966 from College of William & Mary, followed by a PhD in Aeronomy in 1971 from the University of
Michigan.

John worked at NASA-Langley from 1962 until 1970. He also served as a research assistant in the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 1967 until 1970 while pursuing his PhD at the University of Michigan. After completing his PhD, he took a postdoctoral research associate position at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he also held a position of instructor for physics and astronomy until 1972.

In 1972, John accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Physics within the Department of Meteorology at Pennsylvania State University. Concurrently, he was also a staff member of the Ionospheric Research Laboratory/Communication and Space Science Laboratory. He retired from Penn State University as a full Professor in 1994, returning to Florida to serve as the Chair of the Department of Physical Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, FL.

During John’s time as Chair at ERAU, he oversaw the growth of the Department and expansion of its aeronomy and space physics research, leading ultimately to the development of its Engineering Physics PhD program in 2010. John later served as the first Director of ERAU’s Center for Space and Atmospheric Research (CSAR), following its formation in 2014. He retired from Embry-Riddle in 2016 as Professor Emeritus in Physics.

John’s research focused on noctilucent clouds and polar mesospheric clouds, and he developed strong research ties with researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. This collaboration led to the finding of the association between NLCs and methane in the mesosphere, which, with the additional finding of the increasing occurrence rates of the NLCs led to the conclusion that methane concentrations were increasing in the upper mesosphere. This had (and still does) important ramifications for climate research. In 1994 John received the NASA ATLAS-3 Award (Third Atmospheric Laboratory forApplications and Science). John also held the position of Visiting Research Associate in the U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, in 2001-2002. In 2007, following his research with his colleagues and its relation to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), John was recognized as one of the contributors to their Nobel Peace Prize.

Please see John’s obituary for more about his life, family, and career, and to see and share memories: https://everloved.com/life-of/john-olivero/. He will be missed and remembered fondly by all who knew him, for his warmth, kindness, and supportive leadership. A Celebration of Life for John is scheduled for March 20th, as described in this site. Members of the scientific community who knew John are welcome and encouraged to attend.

• Wednesday March 20, 2024, 1:00 pm EST
• Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/514049021?pwd=QVhXYTVRVkJXVjhDZXpWVVZRTnE4Zz09
• Meeting ID: 514 049 021 | Password: 854563

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