Ken Graham
American meteorologist
- 1 min read
- 2 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Master's degree and Meteorology
Early life and education
Graham received a Bachelor degree in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona and attended Mississippi State University, where he earned a Master's degree in Geosciences.
Sign in to keep reading
One more chapter is free with a Lably account.
Career
Graham began his career as a television meteorologist for CBS and an agricultural meteorologist for Mississippi Network Radio. Graham joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1994, working as a broadcast meteorologist in Columbus, Mississippi. He then moved around to different offices in the southern United States, eventually he headed the systems operations division of the NWS Southern Region in Fort Worth, Texas, where he led the agency to make important repairs in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Graham moved to Washington D.C., becoming chief of meteorological services and briefing congressional committees. Graham also participated in recovery efforts in Louisiana and Texas after hurricanes Gustav and Ike; he moved back to become Meteorologist-in-Charge (MIC) of the NWS office in New Orleans soon before those hurricanes hit. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010, Graham, as MIC, spearheaded the cooperative intergovernmental engagement effort and issued more than 4,300 spot forecasts for areas affected by the spill.
Graham was selected by NOAA to be the new director of the National Hurricane Center in early 2018. He began the role on April 1 that year. Graham was named the Director of the National Weather Service on June 7, 2022.