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You are at: NWS Home » SRH Home » SR News » 2004 » Southern Region Division Chiefs to Retire
Two Southern Region Division Chiefs to Retire in January
After decades of distinguished service to the National Weather Service, two veteran meteorologist/administrators will soon leave their positions as Southern Region division chiefs. Thomas Grayson, chief of the Systems Operations Division; and, Dan Smith, chief of the Scientific Services Division, have announced their retirement, effective January 3.
"For nearly four decades, each of these two chiefs has consistently provided innovative and inspired leadership to the National Weather Service across the country," said Bill Proenza, director, NWS Southern Region. "Their contributions to the science of meteorology and weather forecasting services, their tireless efforts in support of the modernization of the National Weather Service and their unwavering dedication to the safety and well being of the American people - have been truly outstanding. They will be missed."
 Prior to joining the NWS, Grayson served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and as a civilian research meteorologist at the Navy's Fleet Numerical Weather Prediction Facility and continued his military service as an oceanographer/meteorologist in the U.S. Naval Reserve -- until he retired with the rank of Captain in 1991. He began his NWS career as a research meteorologist with the Techniques Development Laboratory at NWS Headquarters in 1971.
He also served as Deputy Meteorologist-in-Charge at forecast offices in Reno, Nev. and Ann Arbor, Mich.; Chief of Scientific Services Division, Central Region; Deputy Regional Director, Southern Region; and, Regional Director, Western Region. While he proved to be an effective administrator, Grayson preferred to focus his career on the rapidly developing disciplines of computers and information technology and elected to return to the Southern Region to oversee the newly created Systems Operations Division.
During his NWS career, Grayson has served as researcher, forecaster, field office supervisor, program manager and senior manager. He helped:
- Develop numerical guidance models used by all NWS field forecast offices for critical storm warnings and forecasts
- Implemented development projects and comprehensive training programs that contributed significantly to staff's scientific training and professional advancement
- Implemented the computer-based Automation of Field Operations and Services (AFOS) into nationwide field operations
- Played a critical role in modernization and restructuring Southern Region field offices with specific responsibility for integration of the new Doppler radar network (NEXRAD), the Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) and the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS)
- Led a national project to design and implement a unified NWS approach to display all WSD-88D radar
Grayson attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he earned a bachelor's degree in Meteorology (1963) and a master's degree (1968) and a doctorate (1976) in Atmospheric Science. He has authored numerous scientific and technical articles and served as an editor for several scientific publications. He is also a Charter Member of the National Weather Association and a member of the American Meteorological Society.
 Smith began working at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami (1961) while still a high school student. He continued at NHC as a U.S. Weather Bureau student trainee (1962) while earning a bachelor's degree in Meteorology (1966) at Florida State University (FSU). A masters degree (1967) and additional post-graduate studies followed at FSU. Smith assumed a full-time Weather Bureau (soon to be renamed National Weather Service) position in 1970.
He joined the NWS Southern Region Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas as a Techniques Development Meteorologist (1970 -1976) for the Scientific Services Division (SSD). In this capacity, Smith pioneered the development of computer applications for daily operations in local Weather Forecast Offices (WFO). He developed software to automate the process of generating text forecasts. He also developed the Manually Digitized Radar program - which was the first operational procedure for using digitized observations from the nation=s WSR-57 radars.
Smith served as an operational forecaster (1977-1978) at the WFO in Birmingham, Ala., before returning to Southern Region Headquarters in 1979. A year later, he was promoted to his present position of SSD Chief. During his tenure, Smith has vigorously supported the professional development of meteorologists throughout the region and has been instrumental in providing the critical training needed to help them become successful field forecasters.
Smith actively promoted collaborative research between the NWS and the academic community. His Scientific Services Division provided regional leadership for the first NOAA/NWS cooperative institutes which were created at Texas A & M University and FSU. The cooperative program quickly grew to include many beneficial interactions between NWS Forecast Offices and universities throughout the nation.
In 1996, Smith organized and coordinated a 50th anniversary commemoration and reunion for participants of The Thunderstorm Project. Launched in Florida in the summer of 1946, the project pioneered the combination of aircraft penetration, balloon soundings and a network of surface instruments -- to gather observations which led to an understanding of the structure and life cycle of thunderstorms. The project also marked the first use of radar as a new tool for the scientific study of storms.
Smith has received numerous NOAA and NWS awards and performance commendations. He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a member of the National Weather Association. The author of dozens of professional papers published in Monthly Weather Review, Journal of Meteorology, Bulletin of the AMS, Weather and Forecasting and National Weather Digest -- he also served as the editor of National Weather Digest and the NWS Southern Topics monthly newsletter. |
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