Outstanding Alumni Award 2026: Alan Sealls ’85

Bio

Alan Sealls earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Cornell in 1985 and a master’s degree in meteorology from FSU in 1987. He’s now retired from a career as a broadcast meteorologist, having worked in Albany, GA, Milwaukee, WI, Chicago, IL, and in Mobile, AL, where he resides with his wife, a broadcast engineer. He’s a native of Mt. Vernon, NY.

Alan stays busy teaching weather broadcasting at the University of South Alabama. Along with writing a bi-weekly weather column for Lagniappe Newspaper, Alan has written and produced more than 100 educational weather videos used by educators in multiple countries, distributed by Discovery Education and Boclips. Alan has also authored three weather books. He serves as a consulting meteorologist and expert witness in weather-related legal cases, and is often an invited speaker for meetings, events and science conferences.

Alan Sealls is the 2026 President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). He is a Past President of the National Weather Association. Alan is also an AMS Fellow. He is a sixteen-time Emmy winner, and winner of more than 20 other local, regional, state, and national awards for broadcast meteorology. He went viral on YouTube for coverage of Hurricane Irma, in 2017. Alan is also an accomplished weather photographer. His weather images have been used in television, science research, magazines and in college textbooks. He has captured the art and science of weather, both in storm chasing and in several flights with the U.S. Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters.