Historical Perspective

The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute (GFDI) was created in 1967 as a multi-disciplinary Institute based in the College of Arts and Sciences of the Florida State University. Fluid dynamics in a variety of geophysical phenomena is the primary unifying language spoken by the GFDI faculty in their research and students in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Ph.D. Program under the supervision of faculty drawn from six FSU departments and three Centers.

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute was founded at Florida State University as a cooperative enterprise between the University and the Department of Defense (DoD), which awarded the University the largest and longest lasting grant (the Themis Center of Excellence Grant) in a national competition involving over a hundred programs. With DoD support for new research initiatives and the support of the FSU administration, GFDI took the lead in recruiting the first theoreticians in applied mathematics, dynamic oceanography and in dynamic meteorology. GFDI's recruitment is behind FSU's present strength in the disciplines of dynamic meteorology, dynamic oceanography and applied mathematics.