H. Lee Dantzler, an oceanographer, has been named director of NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center, a Commerce Department agency.

The facility, located in Silver Spring, Md., is the nation's source of global oceanographic data. It manages, distributes and interprets physical, chemical and biological oceanographic data collected by organizations in the United States and dozens of other countries around the world.

"I am excited about the prospects of leading NODC into the 21st century. I'm keenly committed to keeping our customers at the forefront of all that we do, with special attention given to user services, the users access to our data, and to providing scientifically excellent analysis and interpretation products," Dantzler said. "NODC and its oceanographic data holdings have a critical scientific and societal role, especially as our nation comes to better understand how the ocean affects our climate, costal economies and quality of life. This is a great opportunity."

Dantzler comes to NODC from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., where he specialized in environmental information systems technology. For the past three years he was on a detail assignment from Johns Hopkins to NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, where he led NOAA's Ocean Remote Sensing Program and later served as chief of the Oceanic Research and Applications Division. Dantzler previously served as an oceanographic and submarine officer in the U.S. Navy where he led the Navy's applied oceanographic and acoustics research programs, and helped direct the Navy's efforts in the use of oceanographic data.

Dantzler holds a doctorate and a master of arts degree in physical oceanography from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of science degree (with distinction) from the U.S. Naval Academy.

He lives in Ellicott City, Md., with his wife Linda, and has two grown children who live in Ellicott City and Seattle. At NODC, Dantzler replaced Henry Frey, who retired.

NODC is part of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, which also operates a climatic data center and a geophysical data center.