Longtime Director Conrad C. Lautenbacher Retires from AccuWeather Board After 12 Years of Service

Published Mar 19, 2020 8:25 PM EDT

Dr. Joel Myers: ‘Conrad’s celebrated career and global perspective have been especially relevant and instrumental to AccuWeather’s worldwide expansion’

AccuWeather Global Weather Center, March 19, 2020 — The Board of Directors for global weather and digital media leader AccuWeather today announced that longtime Independent Director Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher is stepping down from his seat on its Board of Directors after 12 years of dedicated service. The announcement was made by AccuWeather Founder, CEO and Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers, who said AccuWeather is thrilled to highlight Lautenbacher’s many significant achievements.

“We are delighted for the Admiral. He has made many contributions to AccuWeather after an illustrious career, and we will continue to seek his valued advice and counsel in this new role,” said Myers. “Conrad’s celebrated career and global perspective have been especially relevant and instrumental to AccuWeather’s worldwide expansion, including our efforts to acquire critical government weather and climate data. He has been an important voice as AccuWeather has continued to evolve and transform in its mission to help people and businesses make the best weather-impacted decisions for the protection of life and property.”

Lautenbacher originally joined the AccuWeather Board of Directors in 2008 and officially retired as an active member of the board during its March 2020 directors’ meeting, when the board unanimously elected to designate him as Director Emeritus for the period of one year.

Since 2012, Lautenbacher has been CEO of GeoOptics, Inc., an organization founded by working scientists, engineers and data users in response to the increasingly urgent need for actionable information about the state of our planet and the impacts of human activity on quality of life and on the Earth’s future.

A retired United States Navy Vice Admiral, he was Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Riyadh during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and the eighth administrator of the National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administation (NOAA). Lautenbacher was President George W. Bush adminstration’s longtime point person on weather and ocean issues from 2001 until October 31, 2007. As the NOAA administrator, Lautenbacher spearheaded the first-ever Earth Observation Summit, which hosted ministerial-level representation from several dozen nations in Washington in July 2003.

Through subsequent international summits and working groups, he encouraged world scientific and policy leaders to work toward a common goal of building a sustained Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) that would collect and disseminate data, information and models to stakeholders and decision makers for the benefit of all nations individually and the world community collectively. The effort culminated in an agreement for a 10-year implementation plan for GEOSS reached by the 55 member countries of the Group on Earth Observations at the Third Observation Summit held in Brussels in February 2005. Lautenbacher was selected to serve as co-chair to the Group on Earth Observations at GEO-I in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2005.

"It has been a great honor and a pleasure to be part of the AccuWeather team and witness firsthand the growth and value to the world of the many AccuWeather achievements in saving lives and lively-hoods, said Lautenbacher. “Best wishes for continued progress and success!"

Lautenbacher is the fourth Director in AccuWeather history to receive the designation of Director Emeritus. Others have included Elliot Abrams, Dr. Joe Sobel and Michael Steinberg. Besides Joel Myers, other members of the AccuWeather Board include, Chief Operations Officer Evan Myers, President Steven R. Smith, Chief Financial Officer Edward Arditte, Independent Directors Sean Cohan, Robert Friedman, Laura Lang, Dan Myers, Lisa Shalett and Tim Wallace.

Before joining the Department of Commerce, Lautenbacher formed his own management consultant business and worked principally for Technology, Strategies & Alliances Inc. He was also President and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, which is a non-profit organization with the goal of increasing basic knowledge and public support across the spectrum of ocean sciences.

He has a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D in applied mathematics from Harvard University. Lautenbacher was graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964.

Although not in the same graduation class, both Lautenbacher and Myers attended Philadelphia’s Central High School and were both inducted into school’s Hall of Fame on the same night in 1998 when they first met.

About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.com — AccuWeather, recognized and documented as the most accurate source of weather forecasts and warnings in the world, has saved tens of thousands of lives, prevented hundreds of thousands of injuries and tens of billions of dollars in property damage. With global headquarters in State College, PA and other offices around the world, AccuWeather serves more than 1.5 billion people daily to help them plan their lives and get more out of their day through digital media properties, such as AccuWeather.com and mobile, as well as radio, television, newspapers, and the 24/7 AccuWeather Network channel. Additionally, AccuWeather produces and distributes news, weather content, and video for more than 180,000 third-party websites. Among AccuWeather’s many innovative and award-winning features available free to the public are MinuteCast^® Minute by Minute™ forecasts with Superior Accuracy™. Furthermore, AccuWeather serves more than half of Fortune 500 companies and thousands of businesses globally.

Dr. Joel N. Myers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, established AccuWeather in 1962 and is considered the “father of modern commercial meteorology.” Dr. Myers, a leading creative thinker and visionary, has been named “the most accurate man in weather” by The New York Times and one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs.

AccuWeather, RealFeel, RealFeel Shade, WinterCast, and MinuteCast are all registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature, AccuWeatherIQ, AccuWeather RealImpact, AccuWeather RI, AccuWeather MinuteCast, AccuWeather Network, Minute by Minute and Superior Accuracy are all trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All other trademarks, product names and logos are the property of their respective owners.

The AccuWeather app for Android phone and tablet users is free at the Google Play store. The AccuWeather iOS app is free at www.AppStore.com. Visit accuweather.com for additional information.

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