In 1981, Sue Wagner established the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Endowment to honor her late husband, Peter Wagner, who was an atmospheric physicist at DRI. The Wagner Memorial Endowment supports the Peter B. Wagner Medal of Excellence for DRI Scholars in the Early Stages of Career Development and the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences. Sue established the latter in 1998 to honor both her husband’s career as an atmospheric scientist and her own legacy as a strong political advocate for women’s rights during her time as a Nevada legislator and as the first woman elected to be lieutenant governor in Nevada.
Sue shared her career background with Catherine Ivanovich, PhD, who received the 26th annual Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Science for her research on extreme heat and extreme humidity. Ivanovich graduated with her PhD from Columbia University this July and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Twenty-six years since it was first awarded, the Peter B. Wagner Award for Women in Atmospheric Science remains the only award in the United States for female graduate students in the atmospheric sciences. Thanks to the generosity of Sue Wagner in establishing the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Endowment, the exceptional work of women graduate students in the atmospheric sciences will continue to be recognized and honored in perpetuity.
To support the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Science, make a gift online or contact the DRI Office of Advancement at dri.foundation@dri.edu or 775-673-7300.
