Oceanographer of the Navy and Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet was honored during an award ceremony held June 4 at the University of California San Diego's (UCSD) RIMAC Arena.

Gallaudet, a UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography alumnus, was honored for his career contributions to naval oceanography.

"I'm truly honored to be here with all of you tonight," said Gallaudet. "While I'm a one-star rear admiral sitting here alongside Scripps luminaries including Dr. Margaret Leinen and Dr. Walter Munk, I'd just like to say that I feel like I'm sitting next to five-star fleet admirals tonight. You truly inspire me and are thought leaders in oceanography."

Gallaudet, a career oceanographer, received a masters and doctoral degree from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1991 and 2001, respectively. He attributes the technology and ocean science gains the Navy has made, in part, due to the academic partnership the Navy has with Scripps and institutions like it.

"I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to Scripps where I learned not only how to address complex problems, understand them and develop solutions, but also how to communicate the method, strategy and results effectively," said Gallaudet. "That's something I use on a daily basis. Our relationship with academic institutions are instrumental in preparing us, as oceanographers and Sailors, to know the ocean better than anybody, leading the Navy to have a clear undersea warfare competitive advantage."

Gallaudet serves as a key advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations. As the senior oceanographer in the Navy he provides naval leadership on all issues related to oceanography, meteorology, hydrography, precise time, climate change, the Arctic, maritime domain awareness and geospatial and celestial referencing. He also serves as the senior policy advisor for issues related to national ocean policy and governance.

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