Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss. – A Mississippi State University alumnus has been tapped to lead the National Hurricane Center as preparations continue for the upcoming hurricane season. 

A 1994 graduate of MSU’s Department of Geosciences, Kenneth Graham began his new role in Miami on April 1. 

The National Hurricane Center, a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has had 10 directors since it was created 53 years ago. Graham becomes the fifth director to fill the high-pressure job since 2007.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be selected to work alongside the talented and dedicated employees of the National Hurricane Center,” said Graham in a NOAA media release. “This is an exciting time to work for the National Weather Service, and I look forward to the important work ahead in an effort to keep our communities safe from the various threats posed by hurricanes.”

The center’s mission is to save lives, mitigate property loss and improve economic efficiency by issuing the best watches, warnings, forecasts and analyses of hazardous tropical weather and by increasing understanding of these hazards, enabling communities to be safe from tropical weather threats. The National Hurricane Center is located on the campus of Florida International University.

Mississippi’s state climatologist and MSU geosciences professor Michael Brown said Graham “quickly rose through the ranks” at the National Weather Service after graduating from MSU with a master’s in geosciences. 

“Ken has always been great with people,” Brown said.  “When he was a graduate student, I remember him mentoring the undergraduates through both academic and personal difficulties. He is a natural leader who leads by example.” 

Brown said Graham is “the right choice to lead the National Hurricane Center,” noting the geosciences department is “very proud of his accomplishments.”

From 2008 until his recent appointment, Graham has served as the meteorologist-in-charge in the New Orleans/Baton Rouge office of the National Weather Service.  

Graham’s career with NOAA began in 1994, after working as a broadcast meteorologist at WCBI-TV in Columbus from 1992-1994. Before earning a graduate degree at MSU, Graham earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from the University of Arizona.

The Department of Geosciences is nationally recognized for its excellence in broadcast meteorology, weather forecasting, severe weather research, hydrometeorology, artificial intelligence, weather modeling and climate sciences. One in three of today’s on-air broadcast meteorologists are graduates of MSU’s nationally recognized meteorology program. The College of Arts and Sciences department also is a Center of Academic Excellence in Geospatial Sciences, designated by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,200 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or Department of Geosciences are online at www.cas.msstate.edu and www.geosciences.msstate.edu.  

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.