REAR ADMIRAL SAMUEL P. DE BOW, JR., NOAA (Retired)

Highlights

• Close to 30 years experience managing federal and private sector ocean research projects
• During his final year as director of NOAA operations, NOAA ships and aircraft had a 95 percent mission readiness record (2007)
• Commanding officer of the NOAA ship RUDE during recovery of TWA Flight 800 (1996)
  

Biography

Few people understand the complexities of federal and state ocean and maritime issues as thoroughly as Rear Admiral Sam De Bow.  De Bow’s career has focused on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mission to ensure safe navigation. Under his direction, NOAA became a government leader in the use of GPS, high-resolution side scan sonar, and shallow water multi-beam systems to survey the seafloor.

As director of both Marine and Aviation Operations and the Commissioned Officer Corps for NOAA from 2004 to 2007, he oversaw a $200 million annual budget supporting the operations and maintenance of 20 research ships, 11 aircraft and close to 300 Commissioned Officers.  He had the rare opportunity to fly into the Eye of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico aboard one of NOAA’s P-3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft.

In 2003, while awaiting Senate confirmation to flag rank, he was Executive Assistant to the Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, assisting in the management of NOAA’s $4 billion budget and 13,000 employees and contractors.  While there he participated on a internal team that oversaw a contract to improve the management and delivery of NOAA’s financial and administrative services.

From 1998 to 2002, Mr. De Bow was Chief of the Hydrographic Surveys Division at NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. Here his primary responsibility was to provide overall guidance and leadership for NOAA’s hydrographic survey operation in support of the national Nautical Charting program.

Rear Admiral De Bow was appointed into the NOAA Corps in 1976.  One of the nation’s seven uniformed services, the NOAA Commissioned Corps is a small, elite corps of officers who command NOAA ships and aircraft as well as serve within the many environmental research programs of NOAA and other government agencies.

Mr. De Bow is presently in charge of Research Operations and Special Projects at the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography.

He has a B.S. degree in commerce and engineering from Drexel University and an M.S. in hydrographic sciences from the Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.

Other Achievements

• Senior executive fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (2002)
  
  
• Member, Mississippi River Commission (Confirmed by the Senate in 2006)
  
  
• Received two individual Department of Commerce Silver Medals, a NOAA Bronze Medal (NOAA's highest award), and the NOAA Administrator’s Award