<p>Dec. 6, 2006 Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and NOAA officials, Undersecretary Conrad Lautenbacher and NOAA National Weather Service Director D.L. Johnson, today named Xavier William (Bill) Proenza to replace Max Mayfield as the director of its National Hurricane Center and two other divisions of the NOAA Tropical Prediction Center in Miami. Proenza will become the director upon Mayfield's retirement on January 3 after 34 years of federal service at the hurricane center.
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Proenza started his career with the NOAA National Weather Service at its National Hurricane Center and with NOAA's hurricane hunters in the mid '60s and went on to serve in a number of field, headquarters and leadership capacities across the nation. He has been director of the NOAA National Weather Service Southern Region since 1998. The Florida State University graduate is a long-standing member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, and has held appointments in both professional agencies. In 2001, the AMS recognized him with its prestigious Francis W. Reichelderfer Award for outstanding environmental services to the nation. In 2003, Proenza was elected as an AMS Fellow.
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See: <a href="http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2752.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2752.htm</a></p>
<p>Website for the National</a> Hurricane Center</p>