Background
Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to architect Kurt Vonnegut Senior (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957), partner in the firm of Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, and homemaker Edith Sophia Lieber (d May 14, 1944).
chemist meteorologist physicist university professor
Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to architect Kurt Vonnegut Senior (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957), partner in the firm of Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, and homemaker Edith Sophia Lieber (d May 14, 1944).
He attended Park School (Indianapolis, Indiana) and earned a Bachelor of Surgery in chemistry (1936) and Doctor of Philosophy in physical chemistry (1939) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was the older brother of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut. In 1945, Vonnegut went to work at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New New York lieutenant was there, on November 14, 1946, that he discovered that silver iodide could be used as a nucleating agent to seed clouds.
Seeding clouds involves inserting large quantities of a nucleating agent into clouds to facilitate the formation of ice crystals.
The intent of this process is to cause the clouds to produce rain or snow. Rainand snow-making companies still use silver iodide as a nucleating agent in seeding clouds.
Vonnegut left General Electric in 1952 and went to work at Arthur Doctorate. Little, Incorporated. In 1967, Vonnegut became a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University at Albany, The State University of New New York
He was named a professor emeritus upon his retirement in 1985.
Vonnegut accumulated 28 patents during his career. He was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1997 for his paper "Chicken Plucking as Measure of Tornado Wind Speed.".
Fellow American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union.
Married Lois Gloria Bowler, December 25, 1943. Children: Peter, Scott, Terry, Kurt, Alex.