Dear UCAR Member Reps and PACUR,
I am writing on behalf of the Board of Trustees to inform you that Tony Busalacchi will step down as UCAR President three months earlier than planned due to ongoing health reasons, and that the Board has appointed Eric Barron to serve as Interim UCAR President beginning Monday, May 4, 2026.
Given the extraordinary demands of the UCAR presidency at this moment and the health challenge Tony shared last fall, he and the Board agreed that now is the right time to move up the leadership transition. The Board believes that naming Eric as Interim President now will provide the continuity UCAR needs in the months ahead. This also allows the necessary time to conduct the search for UCAR's next President with the care and deliberation this decision requires. Above all, the Board's priority is to maintain stability through this transition period and ensure UCAR has the strong leadership it needs now and in the future.
Tony will transition to President Emeritus and Special Advisor to the Interim President on May 4, 2026, before retiring on June 4, 2026. During this transition month, Tony will serve in an advisory capacity to support continuity in leadership, offering the Interim President the benefit of his deep institutional knowledge, historical perspective, and strategic counsel as needed. The Board is deeply grateful for Tony's extraordinary leadership over the last decade and for the dedication, professionalism, and care he has brought to UCAR through some of the most challenging moments in our history.
The Board is unanimous in its support for Eric's appointment as Interim UCAR President and deeply grateful that he has agreed to serve. No one is better prepared to provide the continuity, stability, and steady leadership UCAR and NSF NCAR need at this moment. Eric knows both NSF NCAR and UCAR exceptionally well. He began his career at NSF NCAR as a postdoctoral fellow in 1980, later served as a climate scientist, and returned as director from 2008 to 2010. He also brings deep knowledge of UCAR from both the governance and member-university perspectives, having served for 12 years on the UCAR Board of Trustees, including as chair, and later served as president of both Florida State University and Penn State University - two long-standing UCAR member institutions. This rare combination of scientific expertise, institutional knowledge, and executive leadership makes him exceptionally well-suited to guide the organization through the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Eric is a highly respected atmospheric scientist and oceanographer whose career reflects both scientific distinction and exceptional institutional judgment. He understands deeply the importance of Earth system science, the value of interdisciplinary research, and the essential role NSF plays in advancing discovery and supporting the nation's research community. He brings the experience and credibility needed to work constructively with our partners at NSF and to engage effectively with policymakers and members of Congress on behalf of science and the university community. In addition to leading NSF NCAR and two major public research universities, he has served on and chaired numerous committees and panels for NSF, NASA, and the National Research Council. Among his many honors, Eric is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Geological Society of America.
On behalf of the Board, I also want to extend our sincere thanks and very best wishes to Tony. As we said when he announced his retirement last fall, we remain deeply grateful for his visionary leadership and for the steadiness, care, and commitment he has brought to UCAR and NSF NCAR. Tony leaves a lasting legacy at UCAR and across the Earth system science community: he helped strengthen and modernize the organization, broaden and deepen its member community, and champion the importance of understanding Earth as a coupled, interconnected system. He leaves UCAR on a strong foundation, and we wish him all the very best in the years ahead.
You can also read the news release, which has been posted to the UCAR website.
Sincerely,