CONTACT:  Patricia Viets                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                             4/10/97

Paul J. Frommelt of Fairfax has been named manager of a major satellite program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Frommelt is manager of NOAA's polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite program. These satellites provide information about the Earth's oceans and atmosphere, including location and size of severe storms, temperatures of the atmosphere, sea and land, the size of the ozone hole, and the location and amount of dust from volcanoes, which can cause hazards to airplanes. The satellites are operated by NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service in Suitland, Md.

Frommelt spent 19 years in the Air Force working on a variety of military and national spacecraft programs. He most recently served with NOAA's Integrated Program Office, which is responsible for merging the nation's civilian and military polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite programs. In his new position, Frommelt replaces Gregory Mandt, who is now working at the National Weather Service.

Frommelt is a 1978 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., where he earned a B.S. in astronautical engineering. He received an M.B.A. in 1982 from San Jose State University and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1991.

Frommelt lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife Geri and their four children: Anne, 16: Paul Jr., 14: Katie, 10; and Joseph, 2.