Neil Andrew Jacobs, Jr. (born December 12, 1973) is an American scientist and former government official who served as the acting

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere The under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, or USC(OA), is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of Commerce on the environmental and scientifi ...

and Administrator of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA). In 2025, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump nominated Jacobs to the position of NOAA Administrator.

Early life and education

Jacobs was born in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. He earned two Bachelor of Science degrees, in mathematics and physics, from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 1997, followed by a Master of Science and PhD in atmospheric science from

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

Career

Industry

After completing his doctoral degree in 2005, Jacobs went to work with North Carolina–based AirDat LLC to work on the development of their

TAMDAR TAMDAR (Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting) is a weather monitoring system that consists of an in situ atmospheric sensor mounted on commercial aircraft for data gathering. It collects information similar to that collected by radi ...

(Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting) weather monitoring system as their director of research and business development. He stayed on with the company when the company was acquired by

Panasonic Avionics Corporation Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC) designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and installs customized in-flight entertainment and communications devices to airlines worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the prin ...

in 2013. At Panasonic, he served as chief atmospheric scientist from 2013 until he was asked by President Trump to join the government in 2018. During his time at AiRDat and Panasonic, Jacobs also worked on a small team of atmospheric scientists at

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

and served as chair of the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is a scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance the atmosph ...

's Forecast Improvement Group.

Government tenure during first Trump administration

In 2017, Jacobs was nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and was confirmed on February 15, 2018. When

Timothy Gallaudet Timothy Cole Gallaudet is an American oceanographer and retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Gallaudet worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting Admin ...

, the acting NOAA Administrator asked to be allowed to focus on his Senate-confirmed position as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in February 2018, Jacobs became the Acting NOAA Administrator and late the next year he was nominated to take on the role permanently when Barry Myers withdrew from consideration for health reasons. After not being confirmed in 2019, he was re-nominated in 2020. A hearing on his nomination was held in March 2020 and his nomination was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in May of that year. On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Role in Sharpiegate

In September 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

claimed that

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in term ...

would make landfall over

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. After receiving several inquiries from residents, NOAA released a statement that Dorian would not reach Alabama. In an

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

briefing with reporters, Trump displayed a map including the altered projection that Dorian would make landfall in Alabama. On September 6, NOAA released a statement in support of Trump's claim, including Alabama in the list of states that Dorian was expected to reach. Eventually, the path of Hurricane Dorian did not actually affect Alabama at all. In June 2020, an internal investigation found that Jacobs had violated NOAA's code of ethics by issuing a statement in support of Trump's claim.

United Forecast Service

In early 2022, Jacobs was chosen to serve as chief science advisor for the Unified Forecast System (UFS).

Second Trump administration

On February 4, 2025, newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump nominated Jacobs to the position of NOAA Administrator.

Personal life

Jacobs lives in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, with his wife and two children. Jacobs is an avid surfer in the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...

region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Neil American atmospheric scientists University of South Carolina alumni North Carolina State University alumni First Trump administration personnel United States Under Secretaries of Commerce 1973 births Living people