30th Home
jump to NOAA Homepagereturn to 30th Home
jump to NOAA Homepagelink to History pageslink to Leadership pageslink to Special Eventslink to NOAA in Your State

jump to NOAA Homepagelink to Faces of NOAAlink to Administrator noteslink to 30 things to know about NOAA
Banner bottom - Our Seas and Our Skies, 30 years of excellence at NOAA
   

     

    [banner] [employee photo]

    Name:     Sandy Ryan

    Q: Where in NOAA do you work now?
    A:     I work in the Office of Finance and Administration, CAMS Program Office, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

    Q: When did you begin your work with NOAA?
    A:     As soon as they landed the ark, I was on the crew. I began my career on July 12, 1965 with the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. During 1965, the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was established. At that time, the Weather Bureau and the Coast and Geodetic Survey were consolidated into ESSA and we relocated to Rockville, Maryland. Our first Administrator was Dr. Robert White.

    Q: Looking back, what events stand out as the most memorable during your time with NOAA?
    A:     Working in the Headquarters Budget Office and being responsible for developing the annual budget submissions, one of the most memorable and challenging events was to make the transition from huge green columnar pads, used for both budget formulation and execution, to Lotus for PCs. We used to wallpaper our walls with the green spreadsheets, commonly referred to as the green dragons.

    Q: From your point of view, what have been the most significant changes NOAA has experienced during the past 30 years?
    A:     The consolidation of most NOAA offices to the Silver Spring complex and the move of the Budget Office, under John Carey, to downtown. Packing up after 20 years in Rockville brought back many memories. It was very difficult to leave the suburban life and begin the long commute downtown via Metro. Another significant change for me was moving from the Office of Budget to the Office of Finance to work on the Commerce Administrative Management System (CAMS). It has been very rewarding to work with a system that, in the future, will provide on-line data entry with funds availability checking and eliminate manual reconciliations. The benefits realized will be audit trails, comprehensive financial reports and access to real-time accurate financial data.

Return to 30th Anniversary Homepage

 

This page updated on: Monday, 07-Jan-2002 21:41:59 GMT
History | Leadership | Special Events | NOAA In Your State
Faces of NOAA | Administrator's Notes | 30 Things To Know | Home

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
E-mail comments to David.P.Miller@noaa.gov