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Joel Myers

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This article is about the founder of AccuWeather. For the sportscaster, see Joel Meyers. For other people with similar names, see Joe Meyers (disambiguation).
Joel Myers
Born (1939-11-03) November 3, 1939 (age 85)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Alma materPennsylvania State University
Occupation(s)Meteorologist, Executive Chairman of AccuWeather

Joel N. Myers is an American businessman who is the founder and executive chairman of AccuWeather, an American commercial weather service and media company.

Background

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Myers is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He founded AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania, in 1962. Myers was on the faculty of Penn State from 1964 until 1981 as instructor, lecturer, and assistant professor; he estimates that by the time he retired from teaching he had taught weather forecasting to approximately 17% of all practicing meteorologists in the United States.[1] Additionally, he was on the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees for 33 years, and continues as an Emeritus Trustee.[2]

Myers received the American Meteorological Society’s 2018 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Applied Meteorology,[3] and the National Weather Association’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award,[4] in addition to numerous other accolades. He is a trustee of the board of directors for the Committee for Economic Development (CED), where he also is on the education subcommittee, and he is a Fellow of the Nantucket Project.[5]

In 2007, Myers appointed his younger brother Barry Lee Myers, a business attorney, as AccuWeather's chief executive officer. The younger Myers was nominated by President Donald Trump to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in October 2017.[6] Dr. Myers resumed his position as CEO in 2019 following his brother's departure from the company.[7] In June 2023, Myers stepped down as CEO to became executive chairman of the company.[8]

Political activities

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Myers faced criticism in 2005 when he supported the National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005, a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) that would have prohibited the National Weather Service from publishing weather data to the public when private-sector entities, such as AccuWeather, perform the same function commercially.[9] Myers has been a long-time large donor to the Republican Party, its candidates, and to Santorum, a former home-state Senator.[10][11][12]

Controversies

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The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs compiled a report by federal investigators that started after a complaint filed Sept. 6, 2016, alleging a “hostile work environment and termination based on sexual orientation and sex.” The investigators found rampant workplace sexual harassment and female employees receiving favors while having sexual relations with their supervisors, including an unnamed executive. The report found Accuweather “did not take reasonable action to prevent and remedy harassing conduct.” Joel Myers, who was president of Accuweather during the period covered by the agreement, signed a settlement where AccuWeather agrees to pay out $290,000 to at least 39 women, institute in-person training for managers to identify harassment, and send harassment complaints to a 3rd party till at least 2018.[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "Penn State University - Board of Trustees". psu.edu. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. ^ this, Penn State Strategic Communications and Marketing in partnership with Penn State IT Penn State made. "Penn State University". www.psu.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  3. ^ "Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology". American Meteorological Society. 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "2017 Award Winners". National Weather Association. 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Dr. Joel Myers". Committee for Economic Development. 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  6. ^ Shepardson, David (October 12, 2017). "White House nominates AccuWeather CEO to head climate agency". Reuters. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  7. ^ "Barry Lee Myers Steps Down from AccuWeather". PR Newswire. January 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "AccuWeather names new CEO after founder Joel Myers steps down to become executive chairman". Centre Daily Times. The McClatchy Company. June 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Text of S.786". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  10. ^ He has also contributed generously to the Democratic party. In 2017, President Trump signed a bill that will improve weather forecasting and researching capabilities across the American weather enterprise. The bill, which received strong bipartisan support, is titled the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, H.R. 353. It was passed in the House of Representatives in January and was approved by the Senate on March 29. The legislation authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to prioritize research to improve weather data, modeling, computing, forecasting and warnings to better protect lives and property. [1]Hefling, Kimberly (2005-05-27). "Critics Question Timing of Santorum Bill". ABC News. Retrieved 2009-02-02.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Masters, Jeff (2005-06-20). "Update on the National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005". Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog. Weather Underground. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  12. ^ Noah, Timothy (2005-08-02). "Santorum's Mighty Wind". Slate.com. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  13. ^ Brice-Saddler, Michael (April 12, 2019). "Company led by Trump nominee was rife with harassment, including groping and kissing, report says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  14. ^ "Federal report finds 'pervasive' harassment at AccuWeather". AP News. April 13, 2019. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
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