Chen Dake is a physical oceanographer and a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He worked as a professor at Columbia University and as the director of State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics for many years. Presently he serves as the director of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai). His academic career has been devoted to basic oceanographic research, with significant achievements in the areas of coastal ocean dynamics, large-scale ocean circulation, as well as climate variability. His current research interest includes tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction, theories of general ocean circulation, as well as polar ocean and climate. He is also serving in many scientific organizations and editorial boards, and playing an instrumental role in promoting national and international programs of oceanic and polar research.