International Leader in Global Warming, Environmental Research Dies in West Hartford

A prominent environmental scientist who began warning the world about global warming half a century ago died at his home in West Hartford July 6.

Thomas F. Malone, 96, was born in Iowa, raised in South Dakota and came to Connecticut in 1955 from a tenured academic appointment at MIT to establish the Travelers Weather Service, a pioneer in weather forecasting, according to his obituary. 

During World War II, Malone worked on a special program at MIT, where he was an associate professor, to train Naval and Air Force officers to provide weather forecasts for military operations, according to his exhaustive profile. He was presented with a citation from the U.S. War Department for his work.

Malone was also an advisor to the Kennedy administration, where he worked to forge an international program to improve weather forecasting and explore climate change. He served on numerous U.S. advisory committees on weather, science, pollution and health. 

Later, as Elected Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, he initiated discussions with a Soviet group and was instrumental in creating international scientific study of the environmental consequences of a nuclear war, his obituary says.

He went on to serve as dean of the Graduate School at the University of Connecticut, where he warned of the dangers of global warming in an address at the California Institute of Technology in 1970 and on national television in 1984.

Malone participated in the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where “he advocated international cooperation in pursuit of a vision for a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.”

"Your tireless efforts as a steward of Mother Earth are manifestations of your personal commitment, as a man of science and as a man of deep faith, to making life on the planet sustainable for all people and for all time,” read the citation on an honorary doctorate given Malone by Wesleyan University. “As an initiator of international and interdisciplinary research programs, you have been recognized as a world leader in building the human capacity to endow future generations with a better world - and a better place to live."

But as tireless as was Malone’s passion for science and the environment, he was also devoted to his family – Rosalie (Doran), his wife of 70 years, six children, 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

A memorial mass will be held Friday, Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick/St. Anthony Church in Hartford. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the SDSMT Foundation for the Thomas F. Malone endowment, 306 E. St. Joseph St., Ste. 200, Rapid City, SD 57701.