HARPER NAMED TO RUN NOAA’S SATELLITE ACQUISITIONS
New Deputy for Systems Position Created to Orchestrate Policy & Engineering

NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service announced today that Abigail “Abby” D. Harper was named the new deputy assistant administrator for systems. Harper fills a newly created position, and will be responsible for the overall policy direction, coordination and management of NOAA’s satellite acquisitions, including the ground systems. Harper also will oversee system engineering for the development and implementation of new – or modified – NOAA satellite programs.

Harper will also coordinate NOAA’s engineering and acquisition systems activities with NASA, the Department of Defense, other federal agencies and the private sector.

“Because of the critical importance of satellite acquisitions at NOAA, we have identified the need to have a highly experienced person devoted exclusively to overseeing these functions for the agency,” said Mary E. Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “We are fortunate to have someone with Abby’s credentials available to step in and help NOAA deliver top-quality environmental satellite programs that serve the nation.”

Before joining NOAA, Harper was assistant systems program director for GOES-R at NASA, where she provided systems engineering and programmatic support for the NOAA systems program director. In that role, she also supported the development of business and technical structures, and provided oversight of risk reduction and procurement efforts. In other positions at NASA, Harper was responsible for managing flight systems safety and risk management at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Harper received her bachelor’s of science degree in general engineering at the University of Illinois, with a year in the bioengineering program at the University of Sussex in Sussex, England, and earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from George Washington University.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America’s scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service: http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov