Xavier William Proenza was the Southern Region Director of the United States
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
from 1999–2007 and 2007–2013.
[ He was also previously the director of the ]National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...
(NHC) from January 4, 2007 to July 9, 2007.
History
Bill Proenza was born in New York, and raised in Florida. He graduated from Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
. He joined the National Hurricane Center in 1963 and 1964, becoming a reconnaissance meteorologist from 1965 through 1967.[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]
Biographies: Bill Proenza.
Retrieved on 2006-12-06. After working at the National Weather Service field offices in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...
(1968), Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...
(1969), and Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
(1970), he headed for work at NWS headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
and Central Region headquarters before working for Southern Region headquarters in the late 1980s as deputy director, a position he served through the 1990s, before becoming its director in 1999. He had a short tenure as National Hurricane Center Director from January to July 2007.[
The Former NHC Director returned to the National Weather Service's Southern Region Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas in late September 2007. He was let go in February 2013 for unauthorized transfer of $528,000 to maintenance of dozens of radar systems across the southern tier of the USA and weather service staffing before expected budget cuts to the National Weather Service.] He was fired four days after being interviewed for an article in The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
about the cuts, which he claimed could limit radar use during critical weather events.[
]
Tenure at NHC
Proenza had a rocky tenure as the chief of the NHC – "a brief but turbulent tenure in which he publicly criticized his bosses and then lost the support of much of his staff."
In May 2007, he publicly accused NOAA of wasting money, specifically citing NOAA's plans to spend $4 million to publicize a 200th anniversary celebration while the agency has cut $700,000 from hurricane research. In its defense "NOAA spokesman Anson Franklin said the agency is actually only spending about $1.5 million on the campaign over two years. He said it is justified to publicize the agency's mission to a public that is often unaware of its involvement in weather prediction and forecasting."
Proenza had been particularly outspoken in his desire to see a replacement for the aging QuikSCAT satellite, which measures surface winds over remote ocean areas, citing a study that says "the center's ability to track storms could dip as much as 16 percent when the satellite dies."
Three senior researchers, however, complained that Proenza overstated his case, unduly alarming the public and compromising the center's credibility. Jeff Masters, former NOAA meteorologist and operator of Weather Underground
The Weather Underground was a Far-left politics, far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organiz ...
, said Proenza relied on an imperfect, unpublished study. Masters pointed to a different, more complete study, which stated that QuickSCAT's loss would have at most a "minor effect".[ The criticism snowballed, and in early July, he faced an open revolt as half of the center's employees signed a letter calling for Proenza's departure. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel described the letter:
As early as June 2007, ]National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
) administrator Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher initiated an investigation into Proenza's management of the National Hurricane Center, prompted by concerns from Mary Glackin, acting director of the National Weather Service. On June 26, Lautenbacher received permission from Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
Carlos M. Gutierrez
Carlos Miguel Gutierrez (originally Gutiérrez; born November 4, 1953) is an American former CEO and former United States Secretary of Commerce. He is currently a Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of EmPath. Gutierrez is a former Chairman of the ...
to take action against Proenza should it be necessary.[Personal testimony of Dr. Turner, Adm. Lautenbacher, and Mr. Proenza at a joint hearing of the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, July 19, 200]
Lautenbacher requested that the National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
(NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
) form an independent "management assessment team" which would travel to the National Hurricane Center and evaluate the management situation. This team was personally headed by NIST deputy director James Turner, who delivered the team's final report. The above-mentioned letter was signed by the employees while the assessment team was visiting the hurricane center. This fact caused Proenza to speculate that the letter signing may have been engineered by vengeful NOAA management.
On July 9, 2007, Proenza was placed on administrative leave. Deputy director Edward Rappaport
Edward Neil "Ed" Rappaport (born November 18, 1957) served as the acting director of the National Hurricane Center from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2017 to 2018. He replaced former director Bill Proenza on July 9, 2007. Rappaport was replaced by ...
took over as interim director.
On July 13, the management assessment team formally delivered its final report to administrator Lautenbacher. The report concluded that Proenza's management style was ineffective, that his continued presence would interfere with the ability of the National Hurricane Center to perform its vital functions, and that Proenza should be removed as director of the center. Lautenbacher then requested that the NIST assessment team formulate specific recommendations within 2 weeks. At a joint congressional subcommittee hearing on July 19, Lautenbacher testified that he had not yet determined what final actions would be taken regarding Proenza and the National Hurricane Center. He stated, however, that his final decision would be based entirely on the recommendations of the assessment team.
Accomplishments
Proenza was a councilor for the National Weather Association
The National Weather Association (NWA), founded in 1975, is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities.
Background
The National Weather Association is, ...
in 1991.[National Weather Association]
NWA Officers & Councilors.
Retrieved on 2006-12-06. The NWS Employee's Organization recognized him as the NWS manager of the year for 1998. The NWS Employees' Organization also recognized Proenza nationally as the NWS Manager of 1998 for his collaborative leadership with their union. In 2001, the American Meteorological Society recognized him with its prestigious Francis W. Reichelderfer Award for outstanding environmental services to the nation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proenza, Bill
American meteorologists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Florida State University alumni
American whistleblowers
National Weather Service people