NOAA Names First Woman to Direct National Geodetic Survey

NOAA Names First Woman to Direct National Geodetic Survey

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Jan 5, 2009

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has picked
Juliana P.
Blackwell as director of its Office of National Geodetic Survey, making her the
first
woman to oversee the nation's spatial reference system.

Blackwell moves into the director's chair after serving for the past three
years as chief
of the National Geodetic Survey's Observation and Analysis Division, where she
supervised
a staff of 60 employees responsible for maintaining the nation's spatial
reference
positioning system. Prior to that assignment she managed NOAA's height
modernization
program, which has improved the efficiency and accuracy of height information
used in
surveying, mapping, and modeling nationwide, according to the agency. Blackwell
has also
served as the National Geodetic Survey's deputy director since August 2008.

Blackwell is also a 1988 graduate of Tufts University, where she earned a
bachelor of
science degree in mathematics. She received a master's in business
administration from the
University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2007. She joined
NOAA in
1990 as an officer of the NOAA Corps. In her corps career she served on the NOAA
ship
Ferrel as a junior officer, and as fourth officer on board the NOAA ship
Whiting, where
she managed hydrographic survey operations prior to joining the National
Geodetic Survey
full time in 1996.

Blackwell succeeds Dave Zilkoski, who completes a 34-year federal career, all of
it in
service to NOAA and the geodetic survey, according to the agency. His NOAA
service
includes the past three years as head of NOAA's Office of National Geodetic
Survey.
"Juliana brings both experience and a commitment to collaborative partnering
with non-NOAA
resources to enable NOAA to meet or exceed its goals," he said.

The National Geodetic Survey is part of the National Ocean Service, which is an
office of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S.
Commerce
Department. The Survey is the nation's oldest federal science agency, having
been
established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast.