NOAA employees awarded gold and silver medals - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Marine Fisheries Review, Wntr, 1989

Twenty-six U.S. Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medals were awarded to NOAA employees at the Department's annual honor awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., 18 October 1988. The Gold Medals are given "for rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the Nation, or the world." Earning them were: William E. Carter, NOS, Rockville, Md., for contributions to the conception, founding, and operation of the international Earth Rotation Service. Kikuro Miyakoda, William F. Stem, Joseph J. Sirutis, and M. Daniel Schwarzkopf, Environmental Research Laboratories, Princeton, N.J., for research to improve components of atmospheric models and cooperative efforts to implement them in operational weather forecasts. Melvyn A. Shapiro, Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, Colo., for contributions to the understanding of complex meteorological phenomena. And, W. David Rust and Viadislav Mazur, Environmental Research Laboratories, Nonnan, Okla., for contributions to the understanding of atmospheric electrification and contributions to the nation's space program.

Silver Medals "for meritorious contributions of unusual value to the Department or the Nation" were awarded to: Michael L. Tucker, Office of Administration, Kansas City, Mo., for leadership in organizing and developing a combined Department of Commerce/Department of Agriculture National Logistics Supply Center. Lt. (j.g.) Edward R. Cassano, NOAA Corps, and Daniel Granstrom, NOS, for skill and courage in fighting a fire on the NOAA Ship Miller Freeman. Lloyd D. Huff, NOS, Rockville, Md., for developing an advanced water vapor radiometer under the Department's Small Business Innovation Research Program leading to a very successful business activity.

NMFS Silver Medalists were Daniel D. Huppert, La Jolla, Calif., for his innovative concepts in the application of economic principles to the management of marine fisheries, and Dennis M. Weidner, Washington, D.C., for furthering the long-term U.S. policy of developing a cooperative fisheries relationship with Mexico.

Other NOAA recipients were Kenneth C. Crawford, NWS, Norman, Okla., for pioneering efforts in transferring new technologies into operational meteorology. Alan R. Moller, NWS, Fort Worth, Tex., for implementing public preparedness programs and developing and conducting training sessions on severe weather. Gerald S. French, NWS, Portland, Maine, for timely and accurate forecasts preventing great loss of life and property in Maine during flooding in April 1987. Joseph P. Gerrity, Jr., NWS, Camp Springs, Md., for leadership and achievement in atmospheric global numerical modeling. Johnny S. Smith, NWS, Kansas City, Mo., for successful completion of the Computerized Marine Weather Data System on the Great Lakes. D. Gregory Harmon, NWS, Salt Lake City, and Christopher E. Fontana, NWS, Reading, Calif., for developing the concept of an air transportable mobile fire weather unit. Robert C. Kilpatrick and Timothy E. Scrom, NWS, Albany, N.Y., for their outstanding weather forecasts and warnings during New York flooding in April 1987. Michael J. Nestlebush, NESDIS, Camp Springs, Md., for leadership, management, and technical guidance in improving NOAA's Geostationary Environmental Satellite Data Collection System. Michael Crowe, NESDIS, Asheville, N.C., for leadership in development of automated climatological data processing systems. And, National Oceanographic Data Center, NESDIS, Washington, D.C., for excellence in ocean data management through quality improvement and increased productivity.