May 2, 2019

Congratulations to WSG Director Russell Callender for his nomination to the NOAA Distinguished Career Award for Professional Achievement. The award recognizes significant accomplishments that have resulted in long-term benefits to the bureau’s mission and strategic goals.

Dr. Callender was nominated by the NOAA  National Ocean Service (NOS) for his distinguished career of service dedicated to advancing the mission of NOAA.

Russell joined Washington Sea Grant in 2018 as director. He has built a career providing executive leadership to major national scientific and operational organizations, where he has applied his experience as an interdisciplinary marine scientist, environmental policy expert and seasoned program administrator. He led progressively more complex scientific organizations, supervising up to 1700 people across the globe. Most recently, Russell was assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS), where he transformed the organization by unifying the senior executive leadership team, streamlining program execution, and developing and communicating new program priorities to staff and stakeholders. Prior to this, he was acting assistant administrator and deputy assistant administrator within the NOS.

Learn more about Dr. Callender.