The William P. Lowry Memorial Fund was established in 1999 to provide modest research grants to qualified graduate students working in the field of biometeorology, drawing on donations received following Professor Lowry's death, and proceeds from subsequent sales of the three books he wrote and published: Atmospheric Ecology for Designers and Planners, and Fundamentals of Biometeorology Vols. 1 and 2.

In 2005, officers of the International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC) approached the Memorial Fund Committee, co-chaired by the late Professor Lowry’s sons, with the idea of offering awards in Dr. Lowry's memory at the Association's triennial global conferences.

The match was perfect. The very first set of awards - three in all - were given in June 2006 at IAUC’s
Sixth International Conference in Göteborg, Sweden:

» The William P. Lowry Graduate Student Prize is a cash award of $200 made to the student author/presenter of the best oral presentation (or poster) in urban biometeorology/bioclimatology.
The 2006 winner is James A. Miller of Phoenix (Arizona, USA) for his papers "The role of vegetation, density, and sky view factor on the microclimate of Tempe, Arizona, USA" and "A synoptic climatology of extreme heat stress events in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia."
» The William P. Lowry Methodology Prize is a cash award of $200 made to the author/presenter of a paper (or poster) that incorporates the best conceptual or experimental methodology.
The 2006 winner is Iain Stewart (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) for his paper "Methodological concerns surrounding the use of Urban-Rural station pairs to define Urban Heat Island intensity."
» The William P. Lowry African Student Travel Award is a cash award of $300 to help defray travel expense to the IAUC meetings for a graduate student traveling from the continent of Africa.
The 2006 award, with no graduate students attending from Africa, was given to A. Lilly Rose of Koyambedu (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India, who presented her paper entitled "Changing urban structure and its impact on the urban micro climate (a case study of Chennai city)."

Welcome page photo: A. Lilly Rose receives her award from IAUC's Sue Grimmond

The same awards will be given out at each of the IAUC's future conferences.

The fund is managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

For more information contact Dr. Porter P. Lowry II.