VICKSBURG, MISS., November 4, 2013 – Rear Admiral Gerd F. Glang has been officially appointed as a member of the Mississippi River Commission by President Barack Obama.
RDML Glang is the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coast Survey. In this position, he also serves as the U.S. Hydrographer. In his dual roles, Glang will oversee NOAA’s hydrographic services, including the mapping and charting of all United States navigational waters.
Glang graduated in 1984 from the State University of New York Maritime College with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and a U.S. Coast Guard Deck Officer license. In 2004, Glang completed the University of New Hampshire graduate program in ocean mapping, an International Federation of Surveyors/International Hydrographic Organization Category A advanced hydrographic education program. He is a 2006 graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellows program. Following graduation from New York Maritime College, Glang completed Officer Training School and was commissioned in the United States Air Force before coming to NOAA in 1989.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration adds value to the Corps via:
- Representation from the science agency of the Department of Commerce
- Accurate weather and water cycle forecasts, (storms, droughts and floods)
- Reliable scientific information to ensure safe, efficient, environmentally sound commercial transportation
- Scientific analysis of the changes in climate
- Objective ecosystem evaluation and information
All MRC members are nominated and appointed by the President of the United States.
The commission was created by an Act of Congress on June 28, 1879, to plan and provide for the general improvement of the entire length of the Mississippi River. This includes improving navigation, preventing destructive floods and facilitating commerce. The presidential appointees consist of three officers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and three civilians, two of whom must be civil engineers.
The commission itself is an advisory body. Its general duties include recommending policy and work programs, studying and reporting on modifications or changes to the Mississippi River and Tributaries project, commenting on matters authorized by law, making inspection trips, and holding public hearings that facilitate exchanges of viewpoints and ideas between the public and the MRC. Since 1879 the commission has been “listening, inspecting, partnering and engineering” with water resource interests in a watershed that is influenced by the drainage of over 41 percent of the United States and two provinces of Canada.