The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Ship, the Storm and the Song

The year 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald disaster, which occurred during a fierce storm on Lake Superior in 1975. The ship sank while carrying over 26,000 tons of iron ore, resulting in the loss of 29 crew members. This tragedy is famously remembered in Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
Join presenter Steve Ackerman on October 22, 2025, at 5:00 PM at the Sturm Memorial Library to learn more about this event. He will discuss the storm’s impact from a weather expert’s viewpoint and delve into Lightfoot’s iconic song.
Steve Ackerman moved to Wisconsin in 1987, accepting a research scientist position in the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC). He joined the UW-Madison faculty in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in 1992. Professor Ackerman served as Director of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) from 1999-2019. This research organization is a collaboration between the UW-Madison, and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Wisconsin is widely recognized as the birthplace of weather satellites, and CIMSS is key to Wisconsin’s current reputation. He served as Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at UW-Madison between 2019-2023. This position provides institutional leadership in research and graduate education across the campus, with responsibilities for developing and implementing strategic initiatives that aim to maintain and enhance excellence in these areas.

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