We regret to inform that our mentor and colleague Jan Piechura passed away on 12 November 2012 at the age of 75.
Jan finished his studies and obtained his M.Sc. degree in oceanology from the Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1959. He received the Ph.D. degree from the Faculty of Fisheries, Tertiary College of Agriculture, Olsztyn, in 1965. In 1968-1970 he carried out post-doctoral research at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Canada. Afterwards, in 1973, he completed his habilitation thesis at the Faculty of Maritime Fisheries, Tertiary College of Agriculture, Szczecin. Between 1983 and 1986 he performed duties as the Polish representative for the FAO-UNESCO. He received the title of professor in 1991. During his work he held managing positions at the State Hydrological and Meteorological Institute and the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia. From 1991 to 2006 he was the head of the Physical Oceanography Department at the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAS), Sopot.
Jan was a remarkable European physical oceanographer, his work focused on the Baltic Sea and Arctic Ocean hydrography. On the international stage he took part in several scientific projects: ASOF-N, DAMOCLES, IPY-CARE, EURO ARGO, EUROFLEETS, ACSYS/CLIC and CLIVAR. He was also a vice-president of the ArcticROOS Steering Committee and a president of several Conference Committees: BSSC-2005, CBO and EURO-GOOS. He participated in establishing such scientific programs as DIAMIX, AREX and AWAKE. He co-organized and managed the Conference of Baltic Oceanographers and other events applying to the BALTEX Project. He was a member of the Presidium of the Committee on Polar Research, PAS and the Scientific Council of the IOPAS.
Among his many contributions to the growth of the European and Arctic hydrography, Jan was for us a principal scientist during many cruises of the R/V “Oceania” into the Nordic Seas. He was an understanding chief and an inspiring fellow-worker. He was also a great colleague during scientific journeys.
