(July 9, 2007) - Former National Weather Service Southern Region Budget Officer Mark Hunter has been selected as the new Southern Region Administrative Services Division Chief. Hunter replaced Camille Dyer, who retired May 3. In his new position, Hunter is responsible for budget, human resources, procurement and travel support for the NWS Southern Region.

"Mark brings a wealth of experience to his new position," said Steven Cooper, acting director, NWS Southern Region. "His proven leadership ability, business and accounting experience and technical expertise will serve him well as he takes on his new duties. He is clearly a strong asset to the Southern Region leadership team."

Hunter began his National Weather Service career as the Southern Region budget officer in 2002. With a strong background in accounting and database experience, he created a data warehouse in Access with Visual Basic scripts and used those tools to manage the Southern Region budget to a surplus of less than one-tenth of one percent - each year.

Prior to joining the National Weather Service, Hunter served as the Director of Administration and Finance at the Computer Learning Center of Houston (1982-1986). In 1986, he became a full time student at South Texas College of Law in Houston and a part time accountant and Novell system administrator for Houston-based RPR Products, Inc.

He was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1990 and worked in private practice for several years before returning to RPR Products in 1994 as a Materials Manager. In that capacity, he developed a database to track the status of raw material orders, current inventory and customer orders - to manage a just-in-time inventory.

In 2000, he signed up for evening courses at Southern Methodist University's School of Engineering and Applied Science where he added the study of Oracle and UNIX to his academic credits. He was certified as an Oracle8 Database Administrator in 2001. Previously, he earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University (1980) and a Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) degree from South Texas College of Law (1989).

Hunter and his wife Karen spend most of their spare time remodeling their home in Grapevine, Texas.