NOAA 98-R504


Contact:  Dane Konop                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                       5/29/98

ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ELBERT W. "JOE" FRIDAY, Jr.
LEAVING NOAA FOR NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

Elbert W. "Joe" Friday, Jr., NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, has announced his retirement after 38 years of federal service, effective June 30. He has accepted the position as Director of the Board of Atmospheric Science and Climate at the National Academy of Science.

"I have been blessed in that I have enjoyed every assignment that I have had during my federal career, particularly the last year in OAR. This is a tremendous organization, contributing greatly to the Nation. It is truly with mixed emotions that I leave NOAA for new challenges and continued public service at the National Academy of Science," Friday said.

Friday has been the assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research since July 1997. He is a former NOAA assistant administrator for weather services and director of the National Weather Service. He joined NOAA in September 1981 as NWS deputy director, following a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He was selected for the rank of colonel in 1977 and served four years as the Director of Environmental and Life Sciences in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He had previously served as commander of the weather detachments in Saigon, Vietnam, and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, and with the Air Force Global Weather Central and the Air Weather Service. He is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Command and Staff College and a graduate of the Air War College.

He earned his bachelor of science degree, with special distinction, in engineering physics, and his masters and Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma.

He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Service, was named the 1993 Federal Executive of the Year by the Federal Executive Alumni Association and received the American Meteorological Society's 1998 Cleveland Abbe Award for Distinguished Service to Atmospheric Sciences by an Individual.