NOAA’S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SELECTS NEW CFO

Robert J. “Bob” Byrd begins his new position as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for NOAA’s National Weather Service on July 10. He joins the National Weather Service from the United States Mint, where he served as associate director andchief financial officer for nearly two years.

“Bob earned a reputation for helping agencies achieve greater efficiencies,” said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “We look forward to his help in strengthening our organization and reaching our highest performance levels.”

Byrd has more than 20 years of executive management experience in the private and public sectors. He previously served as vice president of the Orkand Corporation, vice president of Cedar Enterprise Solutions, deputy commissioner for management and chief financial officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of General Services.

Among numerous awards, Byrd has been honored with the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Health and Human Services, and with the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Innovations in American Government Award for “Reform of the U. S. Drug Approval Process.” He holds an M.B.A. with honors from Loyola College of Maryland and has completed postgraduate M.B.A. programs at Syracuse University and the Harvard Business School.

In 2007 NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. Starting with the establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. The agency is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by 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 more than 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

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