Ted Munn founded Boundary-Layer Meteorology in 1970 and served as Editor for 75 volumes over a 25 year period. This short article briefly reviews Ted's scientific career with the Atmospheric Environment Service (of Canada), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and with the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto, and as editor of this journal.
1. Foreword
Editing a journal such as Boundary-Layer Meteorology might seem to be a fairly simple, straightforward task, but, as with many other "part-time" jobs, it is not as easy, and often far more time-consuming than it appears. Ted Munn was the editor of Boundary-Layer Meteorology since its foundation in 1969-1970 until his recent decision to step down -at age 75. Ted managed to combine journal editorship with his many other duties (as Senior Scientist with the Atmospheric Environment Service of Canada in the early 1970s as Deputy Director of IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria from 1985 to 1989, and now as an Associate with the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto), by setting aside the early morning hours, from 5 to 7.30 a.m. for editing and proofreading. A parallel goal during these early morning hours was, and still is, to read, in strict sequence and from cover to cover, the Times newspaper, flown daily from London. Despite his good intentions, the reading is usually a few days and occasionally a few weeks late, but still provides excellent and timely resource material for his graduate course on environmental change.
Ted's "system" for running BLM, from his University of Toronto office, consisted of a filing cabinet, several packs of file cards and some sturdy rubber bands. Although well versed in modem computer-based approaches, as we can learn from a light-hearted addendum to his curriculum vitae indicating attendance at five wordprocessing courses, Ted's simple, manual system was ideal for an editor-inchief with legible hand-writing, and who ran all editorial aspects of the journal more or less single handedly. Maintaining the system, dealing with manuscripts received, referee reports and other, always concise, correspondence were somehow squeezed into any gaps in the remainder of his day. The net effect was a well organised, efficient, editorial operation,