Dr. June Bacon-Bercey, the first woman and African-American that would go on to be awarded the American Meteorologist Society (AMS) Seal of Approval for Excellence in Television Weathercasting, died in the summer of 2019.
What We Know:
- According to a report from AccuWeather, Bacon-Bercey’s death went unreported, until her daughter Dail St. Claire, reached out detailing news of her passing last month.
- The pioneer meteorologist is known as being the only African American woman to earn a degree in meteorology in 1955.
- In 1970, Bacon-Bercey worked as a Journalist for an NBC TV station in Buffalo, New York, but when the former weather anchor Frank Benny was arrested for third-degree robbery; she, agreed to take the meteorologist job, to then become the station’s Chief Meteorologist.
- Among Bacon-Bercey’s numerous achievements, she helped to establish the AMS Board of Women and Minorities to raise the number of women and minorities in the atmospheric sciences.
- In 1977, she won $64,000 on a network game show and used it to start a scholarship fund for women in meteorology.
- The pioneer also helped to establish a meteorology lab at Jackson State University.
- Bacon-Bercey’s career included working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Weather Service.
Bacon-Bercey’s legacy will be treasured.
