Timothy Cole Gallaudet is an American oceanographer who is a retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Gallaudet previously served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere within the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this function, he fulfilled the role of Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) until February 24, 2019. He was the longest-tenured Acting Administrator of NOAA in the organization's history at the time he was replaced, but was subsequently surpassed by his successor, Neil Jacobs. Currently, he is the CEO of Ocean STL Consulting, LLC., and host of The American Blue Economy Podcast.
Gallaudet also has become prominent in the UFO Community as he claims to have seen footage of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) while on active duty in the U.S. Navy. He is listed as a member of the Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Aerospace which describes itself as a "military pilot-led nonprofit organization focused on UAP." He is a research affiliate with the Galileo Project that searched for evidence of extraterrestrial technological artifacts.
Gallaudet and astronomer Avi Loeb, the head of the Galileo Project, wrote a joint op-ed piece in The Hill calling for philanthropic funding of UAP research in academia and the private sector.
Early life and education
Gallaudet was born on March 18, 1967, in Hollywood, California. He attended the United States Naval Academy and was awarded a bachelor of science degree in oceanography and was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy in 1989. After leaving Annapolis, Gallaudet went directly to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for two years of post graduate studies, and was awarded a master of science degree in oceanography in 1991. For the next six years, Gallaudet served in various naval assignments before he returned to Scripps for his doctoral studies in 1997 under the direction of Christian de Moustier. He received his Ph.D. in 2001 before returning to active duty.
Gallaudet holds a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy and master's and doctoral degrees from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, all in oceanography.
Naval service
Prior to his role at NOAA, Gallaudet served as Oceanographer of the Navy and Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. He has experience in weather and ocean forecasting, hydrographic surveying, developing policy and plans to counter illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, and assessing the national security impacts of climate change.
Directly following his receipt of an M.S. in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Gallaudet served on several tours around Bahrain, Italy, and California aboard the USNS Harkness, USS LaSalle, USS Peleliu and at the Naval European Meteorology and Oceanography Detachment/Center of Greece and Spain. He planned and participated in hydrography surveys, lead weather and ocean forecasting efforts, directed ship movements and operations as Officer of the Deck and briefly served as assistant fleet oceanographer to the senior oceanographer on the staff of the commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet.
After returning to Scripps for his Ph.D. in oceanography, Gallaudet served for 2 years aboard the based out of Yokosuka, Japan. Here, he served as officer of the deck, directing all aircraft carrier movements and aircraft launches and recoveries; Meteorology and Oceanography Division Officer, where he led personnel in forecasting weather and sea conditions for the KITTY HAWK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and 5 escort ships which conducted the first strikes into Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom; and conducted the first strikes into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.