The Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) at the University of Arizona was established in the early 1950s primarily as a research institute for the purpose of investigating the use of cloud seeding to increase rainfall in the Arizona desert. The Department of Atmospheric Sciences (ATMO), the degree granting program, followed in 1957, with research efforts continuing to be housed in the IAP. The first head of department was Dr. A.R. Kassander, a leading member of the original group that oversaw the establishment of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Also Vice President for Research at the Graduate College, Kassander was a key member of the original Hydrology Committee that oversaw formation of that degree granting department... We've evolved! Two very distinguished departments at the University of Arizona have dissolved their disciplinary boundaries to develop new and bold strategies to characterize,..