Jeanne Clare Adams

I worked with Jeanne Adams in NCAR's computing facility from 1970 through 1986. She was my supervisor while she was head of the User Services Section, and I worked with her on organizing a summer student program in scientific computing. She and her husband Merle would invite all the student interns over to her house on the Hill every summer, where we enjoyed backyard barbecues. I also have fond memories of hikes with her, Merle, and the students up to Brainard Lake and the Audubon Peaks. She and Merle also had a cabin in Estes Park that they would escape to on weekends.

Jeanne was passionate about the Fortran programming language and was instrumental in the standardization of Fortran-77 and Fortran-90. I attended several standards meetings with her, and was her alternate for a while to the X3J3 working group that was responsible for the definition and evolution of Fortran. She was sharp technically, but also very good at getting people to compromise and reach agreements.

I admired and respected her, and occasionally made her mad. I'm very glad I got the opportunity to know her and to work with her.