Nancy Foster
Nancy Marie Foster was the director of the National Ocean Service. She is known for her work in protecting marine environments, linking conservation groups and fisherman, and expanding research in marine environments. Early life and education. Foster was born in Electra, Texas and received her undergraduate degree from Texas Woman's College and went on to earn a masters' degree from Texas Christian University. She earned her Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1969. A portion of Foster's dissertation research was conducted with Meredith Leam Jones and Marian H. Pettibone at the Smithsonian Institution. Career. In the  1970s, Foster was chair of the biology department at Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross. She joined National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1977. She was the director of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Office of Protected Resources from 1986 until 1993, and the director of the National Ocean Service from 1997 until her death in 2000. She is known for her work in the protection of fish habitats and coastal environments, and spoke to the United States Congress about research conducted in United States National Marine Sanctuary. She died on June 27, 2020. Upon her death Senator  Hollings published a tribute in the United States' Congressional Record to honor Foster's contributions to marine science. Honors and awards. In 1993, Foster earned a Department of Commerce Gold Medal. In 1997 she was the first recipient of the Dr. Nancy Foster Award for Habitat Conservation.In 1999, she received a Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. In 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) honored Foster by creating a scholarship program in her name for women and members of minority groups. The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program was signed into law on November 13, 2000. That same  year, the Dr. Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Center was named in Foster's honor and funded through the U.S. Department of Commerce, and she received the Fred M. Packard Award to recognize her work in establishing marine protected areas. The NOAAS Nancy Foster (R 352), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel was commissioned May 10, 2004. The "Nancy Foster" was originally built as a Navy yard torpedo test craft, "Agate Pass" (YTT 12), at McDermott Shipyards in Amelia, Louisiana and launched in September 1990. In 2001, the Navy transferred the vessel to NOAA, outfitted to conduct coastal  research along the U.S. Atlantic/Gulf coasts, and the Caribbean. Personal life. Foster married Joseph R. Geraci in May 2020.