noaa's video: In Memoriam: Dr Robert M White NOAA s First Administrator

Dr. Robert Mayer “Bob” White, founding Administrator of NOAA, died Wednesday October 13, 2015, after a trailblazing career of public service. Dr. White became NOAA Administrator in 1972, following visionary leadership as the first Federal Coordinator of Meteorology and as Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, the latter being one of President John F. Kennedy’s final appointments. From the outset, Dr. White set a high bar for federal service by pioneering an approach to meteorology that intrinsically linked it to observing, understanding and interacting intelligently with the natural environment. He advocated tenaciously for better weather predictions, and to improve the global weather observing system through the still new technology of Earth-observing instruments carried on satellites. Dr. White’s contributions to global environmental science and the capability to observe and understand global climate change were underscored when he was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1992, just one of many honors he received during his long career. In setting the bar high, he created an organization designed to work at multiple, often complex, levels that has continued to evolve over nearly a half century of astounding change. He also championed many of the scientific and technological innovations that have effectively addressed this change, including those that have revolutionized our nation’s weather prediction and warning systems. Bob White’s wisdom and generous counsel will be missed, but his legacy will forever be NOAA’s North Star.