Background
He is the son of Fannie and Philip Churgin, immigrants from Russia.
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James Churgin
Edit ProfileEducation
He studied at New York City College before receiving his Masters in Geology from West Virginia University.
Career
He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, where he worked analyzing petroleum samples and taught map reading. Later the couple moved back east where he worked for the Navy Hydrographic Office, the predecessor of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration), with Churgin as the head of its British Telecom processing section. He was instrumental in establishing the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) - World Data Center “A” in Washington District of Columbia and eventually became its head
Churgin, Frank Wang, George Saxton and Michael Loughridge led the first American oceanographic delegation to China and helped engineer a ground breaking data exchange agreement between the two countries.
Churgin participated in developing an early e-mail system to connect National Oceanographic Data Centers around the world, based on the (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) system which later became the Internet. He also worked with Ferris Webster and James Crease in accumulating data for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) study which is used today to help scientists understand the ocean’s effects on climate.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
March 29, 2014 (aged 85) -
Nationality
United States