Roger Wakimoto received his B.S., with Honors and Great Distinction, in Meteorology from the San Jose State University in 1976 and his Ph.D in Geophysical Science from the University of Chicago in 1981 under the guidance of Ted Fujita. He began his professional career as a postdoc at the University of Chicago from 1981-1983. Wakimoto joined the faculty in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (now the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences) at the University of California, at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1983.  Wakimoto left UCLA in 2005 to become the Director of the Earth Observing Laboratory of the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) from 2005-2010 and the Director of NSF NCAR until 2013. He served as the Assistant Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Geosciences (NSF GEO) between 2013 and 2017. Roger Wakimoto returned to UCLA in 2017 and is currently the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities. To date, he has advised or coadvised 8 Ph.D. and 13 M.S. students.    

Wakimoto is an atmospheric scientist specializing in research on mesoscale meteorology, particularly severe convective storms, tornadoes, downbursts, drylines, frontal systems, and radar meteorology.   Dr. Wakimoto has been recognized by the American Meteorological Society at different stages of his career, through granting of the Meisinger Award in 1992 for "significant contributions to the understanding of mesoscale phenomena through insightful and details analysis of observations", and the Charles Franklin Brooks awards in 2012 for "improving the Society's processes through unselfish and highly effective service on numerous committees and as Councilor and Commissioner", and elected Fellow in 1996 and Honorary Member in 2023. He has also served as President of the American Meteorological Society in 2017 and 2018, Chair of the Council on Research for the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and on the Senior Research Officer Executive Committee for the Association of American Universities (AAU). He is a Fellow and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Wakimoto is also Chair of the Council of Vice Chancellors for Research (COVCR) for the University of California System.

The 2026 Roger M. Wakimoto Symposium celebrates Dr. Wakimoto’s extraordinary 40+ year career at UCLA, NSF NCAR and NSF, recognizing his outstanding scientific contributions, mentorship of students and early-career scientists, and service to the atmospheric science community. Roger played a pivotal role in the insightful use of advanced tools to achieve numerous breakthroughs in mesoscale meteorology. His scientific legacy includes leading multiple field campaigns and pioneering ground-breaking observational analyses of tornadoes, gust fronts, mesoscale convective systems (MCS), convection initiation and mid-latitude fronts. Roger has held several prestigious management positions, including NSF NCAR Director, President of the AMS, NSF Assistant Director and as UCLA’s Vice Chancellor of Research,  served on numerous influential committees, and has won numerous accolades, including the AMS Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award, the AMS Charles Franklin Brooks Award, and the AMS Honorary Member.

The Roger M. Wakimoto Symposium will take place during the 106^th AMS Annual Meeting in Houston, TX on January 26, 2026. The symposium welcomes abstracts on a broad range of topics, including but not limited to, tornadoes, downburst, gust fronts, damage surveys, photogrammetry, mid-latitude fronts, MCS/QLCS, convection initiation and mobile radar data analyses.

The symposium will feature invited and contributed oral presentations, a poster session, and a special dinner where colleagues and friends can honor Roger’s lasting impact on the field. Speakers will include those who have collaborated with Roger, have been influenced by Roger or his work, or are engaged in research aligned with his contributions. The symposium provides a unique opportunity for participants to reflect on Roger’s significant advancements in mesoscale meteorology and explore future research directions.