Farewell to Fred Remer: meteorology and aviation professor retires
Fred Remer, Meteorology and Aviation professor retires after 33 years of service at the University of North Dakota.
From teaching every aviation student’s favorite class, Aviation Meteorology, to flying UND’s Citation research jet, there’s almost nothing Associate Professor Fred Remer hasn’t done during his time at the University of North Dakota. Having taught at UND for over 30 years, he has impacted generations of students and left a lasting mark on the program.
Background
Early-life
While Remer began flight training at 16, his love for flying started years before that when he saw his older brother flying in the Civil Air Patrol. Remer originally wanted to fly fighters and would go out to his local airport and offer to wash the planes, hoping the owners would offer him a flight. He eventually succeeded and was offered to fly in a Piper Comanche 260C. Now, however, Fred is most known as an atmospheric sciences legend – so what got him into meteorology? As a kid, Remer was an afternoon paper boy. Out delivering papers one day, Remer got stuck in a thunderstorm. He thought it would be an excellent idea to learn how to forecast storms and realized that learning more about meteorology as a pilot would be helpful.
Education
With a desire to fly and get a degree in meteorology, Remer went to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, in 1977 for their Atmospheric Sciences program. There, he was involved as a student researcher, helping to develop Doppler radar at the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and was also part of OU’s storm chase team. During his time at OU, Remer earned his instrument rating and commercial certificate, as well as his CFI and CFII.
After graduating from OU, he attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, for his master’s program. There, he was involved with microburst and wind shear research for NOAA’s Joint Airport Weather Studies project as a technician on the university’s King Air. He also ran the university’s flying club with a Cessna 172. During his time at Wyoming, Fred took a gap year to travel across the Atlantic to Greece for a weather modification research project. Reflecting on his time there, he said it was “just awful” sitting on the beach on sunny days when not doing research.
Once back in Wyoming, he decided to fly for a freight operator based out of Cheyenne, flying Piper Senecas and Cessna 402s for about a year. While he originally wanted to be a commercial airline pilot, Remer said he’s happy that things ended up working out as they did. Once he graduated from Wyoming, Remer came to UND.
Time at UND
Remer first met Mike Poellet, the then-chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Department, in 1986 at a conference Remer was speaking at. He expressed interest in cloud seeding and weather modification research and was hired in 1989 to teach contract students.
He began teaching Aviation Meteorology in 1990 and Intro to Synoptic Meteorology in 1991. With his flight experience, he was also involved as a stage check pilot from 1989 until 1994. That same year, George Hammond, the then-director of Flight Operations and chair of the Department of Aviation, hired Remer as an associate professor of aviation, a position he held until the flood of 1997. Between 1997 and 1998 Remer temporarily moved to Fargo working as the chief meteorologist for Weather Modification, Inc., running their domestic and international projects. However, he returned to UND full time in 2000 in order to spend more time with family. He also worked as a weekend meteorologist for the news channel in Fargo, a position he held until 2007.
On top of teaching, he flew the right seat in UND’s Citation for icing and wind shear research. Eventually, he became the undergraduate Atmospheric Sciences program director when Leon Osborne stepped down.
Reflection
Reflecting on his time at UND, Remer said that he doesn’t necessarily have a favorite class that he’s taught but that the chemistry of each class is what “makes” the class. He’s enjoyed having fun over the years, like teaching his Instrumentation class how to make thermometers or sharing donuts with the juniors in his Thermodynamics class. This year in Instrumentation, for example, a student attached their thermometer to a drone and flew it around. The winning thermometer was attached to the KiwiBot named “Frederick,” exemplifying Remer’s personality. As for Aviation Meteorology, he wishes that the class could be less “death by PowerPoint,” but without lab sections, that’s the best way to expose students to the material.
Over the years, as he gained experience flying and researching, Remer has added lots of material and content to his Aviation Meteorology classes. He says his content is overboard for what pilots need to know, but he believes that UND’s role is to produce the best pilots possible and wants to do his part. If he had to change anything about his time at UND, Remer would have liked to keep flying. He fondly recounted that at one point, he had offices in Clifford Hall, Ryan Hall, and behind Dispatch at the airport. He misses teaching and seeing students at the airport and wants to encourage students to keep flying for fun during their time at UND.
Retirement
In the coming years, Remer plans to fly more. His Mooney recently had an engine overhaul, so he plans to stay busy flying cross-country to break it in. He also wants to get more involved with the local branch of the Civil Air Patrol. As for projects, he plans to restore a 1974 VW Convertible and to build a garden railroad with model trains around his backyard for his wife. He also expressed an interest in getting back into flight instruction.
Remer has undoubtedly had a lasting impact on UND Aerospace. The college and its students have been fortunate to learn from his wealth of experience. Each of Remer’s classes is a symphony of jokes and fun, and we will miss his laugh echoing through the halls. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Written by: Ethan Matthews, Commercial Aviation major at UND.
