Tom Karl, Ph.D., received his B.S. degree in Meteorology from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, in 1973, his Masters Degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1974, and he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University in 2002.

Karl has received many awards and recognition for his work in climate, observing systems, and data stewardship including: four Gold Medals from the Department of Commerce and one Bronze Medal; the American Meteorological Society's Suomi Award; National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences; the NOAA Administrator's Award, and several others.

He currently is the Director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center and NOAA's Program Manager for Climate Observations and Analysis. A Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and of the American Geophysical Union, Karl has published more than 125 peer-reviewed articles and several books as Editor and Contributor. He has also given numerous testimonies to the U.S. Congress and briefings to Vice President and Presidents of the United States.

In 2002, Karl was elected to serve on the Council of the American Meteorological Society. He has also served as Editor of the Journal of Climate (1997-2000) and as Lead Author of several IPCC reports and Co-Chair of the US National Assessment. He frequently is interviewed in the press and has provided several articles in popular science-related magazines.