Profiles in Success: A Career Among the Stars

When Jack Kaye '76, PhD, first looked up at the sky as a boy growing up in Malverne, New York, he never imagined that one day he would study Earth itself-from space. Yet over the course of a 41-year career at NASA, he has done just that, gazing at our planet from vantage points few have ever known and helping humanity understand the fragile systems that sustain life.

Dr. Kaye still remembers one flight in particular. On a mission to measure air quality over the New York metropolitan area, he leaned toward the window, squinting, hoping to spot his hometown and perhaps even Adelphi, the university that had first set him on his path.

The better we understand how our planet behaves, the better we can coexist, respond to change and make decisions for a better future."

That path was anything but traditional. The only environmental science course he ever formally took was a first-year course at Adelphi University-Weather and Man-on a Friday afternoon. "I'm sure my enjoyment of that class contributed to my career direction," he says. After earning his BA in Chemistry at Adelphi, he went on to California Institute of Technology to earn a PhD in theoretical physical chemistry. There, he realized he wanted to apply chemistry to real-world problems.

"Working on atmospheres seemed like it would be fun," he recalls. That curiosity led to a postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, then a role at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the early 1980s-just as global concern about ozone depletion was rising.

From there, Dr. Kaye's career launched into orbit. He joined NASA headquarters, eventually becoming associate director for research in the earth science division. For 25 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service, he managed NASA's Earth Science Research Program, overseeing funding that supported labs across NASA, universities, private industry, nonprofits and partner agencies around the world.

Yet Dr. Kaye is quick to point out that science on this scale is never a solo mission. "The challenges of understanding Earth's system and climate are bigger than what any one agency-or even any one nation-can do," he explains. His work emphasized collaboration, whether across government agencies or international borders. The goal was always the same: gathering data and building models to help anticipate near-term changes, plan for long-term ones and ultimately make wiser decisions for the future of our planet.

Some of Dr. Kaye's proudest moments came during the 1990s, when he served as program scientist and helped with the scientific implementation of the ATLAS (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science) space shuttle flights. From orbit, those missions observed Earth and the sun with a precision that allowed scientists to compare data across new satellites. "Space is a great way to study the whole planet," he reflects. "It's especially valuable for places that are hard to monitor otherwise-ice sheets, open oceans, dense forests, deserts and mountain ranges."

Looking back, Dr. Kaye credits Adelphi not just for sparking his interest in environmental science, but for giving him the tools to communicate it. A public speaking course and his work on The Delphian, the campus newspaper, helped him learn how to explain complex ideas with clarity and style. "A scientist who can communicate well is much more effective," he tells today's students.

He also pays forward what he once received. As a senior at Adelphi, Dr. Kaye conducted undergraduate research, an experience so formative that he later championed opportunities like NASA's Student Airborne Research Program, in which three Adelphi students have already participated.

Dr. Kaye's story is also one of balance: navigating the scientific, managerial and financial sides of NASA's vast research enterprise. Managing and allocating more than a quarter of a $2 billion annual budget was no small task. "The financial part is always a challenge," he admits. "And some years, it's a bigger challenge than others. But it's always worth it."

Dr. Kaye recently retired from NASA, closing a remarkable chapter of exploration and leadership, and now looks forward to a new vantage point-one filled with reading, writing, volunteering and more time with his wife, Dawn, their daughters and grandchildren. A candidate for president-elect of the American Meteorological Society, he also hopes to reconnect with Adelphi through alumni initiatives that link generations of students and graduates.

Reflecting on his journey, Dr. Kaye returns to the lesson that guided his career as surely as the stars guided sailors: "The best way to make things happen is not by oneself. It's by pulling together a team to get things done."

From Malverne to NASA, from a Friday afternoon class to orbiting space shuttles, Jack Kaye has truly built a career among the stars-while never losing sight of the planet we all call home.