• Weather.gov Forecast
  
• Active Weather Alerts
• NOAA Organizations
• Working With NOAA
• Media & Constituents
• NOAA In Your State
• Emergency Information for NOAA Employees
• NOAA Transition Documents

NOAA Leadership

Dr. James M. Turner

James M. Turner, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Affairs Director, NOAA Office of International Affairs.

Dr. James M. Turner leads NOAA's international scientific and environmental efforts associated with the global oceans, atmosphere, and space. He serves as the principal advisor to the Under Secretary and Administrator on international policy issues, represents NOAA and the United States with foreign governments and international fora, establishes policies, guidelines, and procedures for NOAA’s international programs, and provides support and coordination to NOAA’s lines offices. These efforts help us to better understand, predict, and take steps to respond to changes in the Earth's environment, conserve and manage coastal and marine resources, protect life and property, and to provide decision makers with reliable scientific information.

Dr. Turner comes to NOAA from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology where he served as the Acting Director (September 2007 to September 2008) and Deputy Director (from April to September 2007). NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology. 

Prior to joining NIST, Dr. Turner served as the Assistant Deputy Administrator for Nuclear Risk Reduction in the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. In that position he was responsible for major projects in Russia to permanently shut down their last three weapons-grade plutonium-production reactors. He also worked with foreign governments and international agencies to reduce the consequences of nuclear accidents by strengthening their capability to respond to nuclear emergencies. Turner also has held several senior management posts at DOE concerned with laboratory oversight and with nuclear safety and the safeguarding of nuclear weapons both here and abroad.

He holds degrees in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D.) and Johns Hopkins University (B.A.), and taught for five years as an Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering at Morehouse College.

Among other honors, he has received the U.S. Government Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, three times received the U.S. Department of Energy Exceptional Service Award, and earned the Secretary of Energy Gold Award and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Gold Medal. Dr. Turner is an active member of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the American Nuclear Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ASTM, the Council on Foreign Relations, IEEE, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and the World Affairs Council.

Dr. Turner is a native of Washington, D.C., is married, and has five children and one grandchild. He enjoys doing yoga and Tai Chi.  He and his wife, Paulette, reside in Olney, Md.