NOAA Education acknowledges Bruce Cowden with the Silver Sherman Award

The Silver Sherman is awarded on an ad hoc basis by each member of the NOAA Leadership. It recognizes an individual who has performed work above his or her normal requirements, achieved a milestone that contributed significantly or critically toward the attainment of a particular program goal, or demonstrated leadership toward process improvement of a significant magnitude.  

Bruce Cowden matches all of those attributes and beyond. He began his NOAA career in 1988, after 8 years serving in the Navy. Since then, he has spent 7,200 days at sea with NOAA, visited numerous countries and deployed hundreds of buoys. As chief bosun, Cowden had the responsibility to deploy and recover instruments in the ocean, while ensuring the safety of the crew and communicating with the ship’s officers. 

In addition, over his 30-year career at NOAA, Bruce has illustrated four books: three Teacher at Sea and one Teacher in the Air. He spearheaded the idea and today over 100,000 copies have been distributed to teachers, students, and the general public. Bruce also has attended numerous events, including the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference, to sign books and talk to teachers. Bruce truly has a passion for communicating the exciting work that NOAA does through storytelling and art and has committed his life to being a part of NOAA science.

During the award ceremony, Admiral Score thanked the group for recognizing Bruce, his talents, and his work giving back to the One NOAA approach. He stated that he is privileged to call Bruce a friend and to have worked with him over the years.