Alasdair Kellie

1945 - 2016

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Associate Director Al Kellie, died unexpectedly at his home in Superior on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. He was 71. He was born Alasdair Robert Kellie on March 24, 1945 in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Charlotte Edna (Murchie) and Angus Kellie. He grew up, and received his early education, in Brandon. Al went on to receive his B.Sc. from the University of Manitoba in Science, with postgraduate work for an M. Sc. from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Prior to coming to NCAR in 1998, he spent more than 30 years with Environment Canada's Meteorological Services of Canada (MSC), with the last 7 of those in managing the supercomputer and telecommunications centre, located at the Canadian Meteorological Centre in Dorval, Quebec outside Montreal. Primary in this responsibility was operating the largest NEC supercomputer complex outside Japan. In the last years with MSC before joining NCAR, Al served as the Director General of the Canadian Meteorological Center. He was prominent in the international arena, representing Canada at the United Nations Agency, and NCAR at the World Meteorological Organization working group committees for data management, observations, and telecommunications, and most recently serving as Chair of the Working Group on Data Processing. At the time of his death, Al was the NCAR Associate Director of the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL). He held this post for the past 18 years. Under his direction, NCAR has transitioned from a parallel vector supercomputing environment to scalar clusters and increased available resources seven-fold. Realizing that the data center in the basement of the NCAR Mesa Laboratory in Boulder had reached its physical plant limit, he presided over the funding, design, and construction of the state-of-the-art NCAR/Wyoming Supercomputer Center (NWSC) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The NWSC opened in 2012. Al is survived by wife Jean Grill, who he met in Boulder in 2005. He is also survived by his two children Karma Cyr and Robert Kellie, his brother Duncan Kellie, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In his leisure time, Al loved playing golf, traveling the world to be with friends and colleagues, a fine glass of wine, and honing his creative cooking skills. He cherished the time spent with his family. He considered his co-workers at NCAR his extended family, and enjoyed the working relationships he had with his colleagues. In celebration of Al's life, a memorial service will be held on Sunday, September 18, at 1:00pm, at the NCAR Mesa Lab facility, 1850 Table Mesa Dr., Boulder, CO 80305. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund is being established in Al's memory to support Education and Outreach in CISL. Details on how to support this fund will be available at a later date. Darrell Howe Mortuary, 1701 W. South Boulder Rd., Lafayette, CO 80026, has been entrusted with all service arrangements. Friends may share respects and send condolences online at www.darrellhowemortuary.com