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Vice
Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr, USN (Retired) A Biography
Vice
Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr Under
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator A native of
Philadelphia, Pa., retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher ,
Ph.D., is serving as the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere. He was appointed 19 December 2001. Along with this title comes the
added distinction of serving as the eighth administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from
Harvard University in applied mathematics. Lautenbacher
oversees the day-to-day functions of NOAA, as well as laying out its
strategic and operational future. The agency manages an annual budget of $4
billion. The agency includes, and is comprised of, the National Environmental
Satellite, Data and Information Services; National Marine Fisheries Service;
National Ocean Service; National Weather Service; Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research; Marine and Aviation Operations; and the NOAA Corps, the nation’s
seventh uniformed service. He directed an extensive review and reorganization
of the NOAA corporate structure to meet the environmental challenges of the
21st century. As the NOAA
administrator, Lautenbacher spearheaded the first-ever Earth Observation Summit,
which hosted ministerial-level representation from several dozen of the
world's nations in Washington July 2003. Through subsequent international
summits and working groups, he worked to encourage world scientific and
policy leaders to work toward a common goal of building a sustained Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) that would collect and
disseminate data, information and models to stakeholders and decision makers
for the benefit of all nations individually and the world community collectively. The effort culminated in an agreement for a 10-year implementation plan for
GEOSS reached by the 55 member countries of the Group on Earth Observations
at the Third Observation Summit held in Brussels February 2005. He also has
headed numerous delegations at international governmental summits and
conferences around the world, including the U.S. delegation to 2002
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ocean Ministerial Meeting in Korea, and
2002 and 2003 meetings of the World Meteorological Organization and
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Switzerland and France, as well
as leading the Commerce delegation to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development in South Africa. Before
joining NOAA, Lautenbacher formed his own management consultant business, and
worked principally for Technology, Strategies & Alliances Inc. He was
president and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education
(CORE). This not-for-profit organization has a membership of 76 institutions
of higher learning and a mission to increase basic knowledge and public
support across the spectrum of ocean sciences. Lautenbacher
is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1964), and has won
accolades for his performance in a broad range of operational, command and
staff positions both ashore and afloat. He retired after 40 years of service
in the Navy. His military career was marked by skilled fiscal management and
significant improvements in operations through performance-based evaluations
of processes. During his
time in the Navy, he was selected as a Federal Executive Fellow and served at
the Brookings Institution. He served as a guest lecturer on numerous
occasions at the Naval War College, the Army War College, the Air War
College, The Fletcher School of Diplomacy, and the components of the National
Defense University. His Navy
experience includes tours as Commanding Officer of USS Hewitt DD-966,
Commander Naval Station Norfolk; Commander of Cruiser-Destroyer Group Five
with additional duties as Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Riyadh
during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where he was in charge of
Navy planning and participation in the air campaign. As Commander U.S. Third
Fleet, he introduced joint training to the Pacific with the initiation of the
first West Coast Joint Task Force Training Exercises (JTFEXs). A leader in
the introduction of cutting-edge information technology, he pioneered the use
of information technology to mount large-scale operations using sea-based command
and control. As Assistant for Strategy with the Chief of Naval Operations
Executive Panel, and Program Planning Branch Head in the Navy Program
Planning Directorate, he continued to hone his analytic skills resulting in
designation as a specialist both in Operations Analysis and Financial
Management. During his final tour of duty, he served as Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations (Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments) in charge of
Navy programs and budget. |
