Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Wilmington, N.C. - Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher Jr. (Ret.) is the featured speaker at the UNCW Center for Marine Science’s Planet Ocean Seminar Series at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, at the Warwick Center Ballroom. This is the fourth seminar of the 2003-04 season. Due to limited seating, reservations are required.

The seminar – “NOAA’s Ocean Sciences for the 21st Century” – is free and open to the public. To reserve seats, contact the Center for Marine Science at 910.962.2304 or 910.962.2493.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Harvard University, Lautenbacher is undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and top administrator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). His previous appointments range from commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Riyadh during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, to president and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education.

NOAA ranks third in supporting oceanographic research in the United States. Several UNCW scientists receive funding from NOAA.

A complete biography of Lautenbacher is located at http://www.noaa.gov/lautenbacher.html

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NOTE TO THE MEDIA: Vice Admiral Lautenbacher will be available for interviews between 2 and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, on the UNCW campus. To schedule an interview, please contact Marybeth Bianchi at 910.962.4164 or bianchim@uncw.edu.

Lautenbacher was among the more than 300 participants from 45 counties who gathered Sunday, April 25, in Tokyo for the Second Earth Observation Summit to create a global planet observation system.