Jun. 18—MIAMI — Ken Graham recently was named the new NOAA assistant administrator for weather services and the 17th director of the National Weather Service.

Graham brings 28 years of scientific and program management experience to the position, with emphasis on improving field operations, cultivating partnerships internal and external to government, and being an innovative leader of teams. Most recently, he served as director of the National Hurricane Center, where he oversaw hurricane forecast operations and public communications.

Graham has a vast amount of operational field experience. He worked his way up through the ranks at NWS, mostly in field offices, starting as an intern meteorologist in 1994 at the New Orleans/Baton Rouge weather forecast office.

Before joining the National Hurricane Center in 2018, Graham served as the meteorologist-in-charge of the NWS' New Orleans/Baton Rouge office for 10 years. Prior to that, he served as the systems operations division chief at NWS Southern Region headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. He also served as the meteorological service chief at NWS headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., and was the meteorologist-in-charge at the local forecast offices in Birmingham, Ala., and Corpus Christi, Texas.

Graham earned a bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in geoscience from Mississippi State University. He was recently named the 2022 Weatherperson of the Year by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes and was a 2021 finalist for the Partnership for Public Service's Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal.

Jamie Rhome, current NHC deputy director, will serve as the NHC acting director until a permanent director is hired. Mike Brennan will step into the NHC acting deputy director role. Between the two, Rhome and Brennan have 37 years of experience working at NHC.