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2000 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15
Commending Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields.

Agreed to by the Senate, January 27, 2000
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 4, 2000

WHEREAS, Evelyn J. Fields, a native of Norfolk, was recently promoted to rear admiral and named the commander of the NOAA Corps, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and

WHEREAS, the NOAA Corps’ 400 officers, all of whom are scientists or engineers, operate the ships and aircraft used in weather and oceanic research and to police the ocean’s fisheries; and

WHEREAS, a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School and Norfolk State University, Evelyn Fields joined NOAA in 1972 as a civilian cartographer; and

WHEREAS, recruited into the NOAA Corps in 1973, Evelyn Fields established herself as a trailblazer, becoming the first woman to serve as commanding officer on a NOAA ship and the first woman to command a federal ship for an extended period of time within the nation’s uniformed services; and

WHEREAS, nominated to the post of NOAA Corps director by President Clinton in January 1999, Evelyn Fields was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6 and was promoted to rear admiral the next day; and

WHEREAS, on July 27, 1999, Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields became the first woman and the first African-American to command the NOAA Corps; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields on her exceptionally distinguished career with the NOAA Corps; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for her accomplishments and best wishes for continued success.