Chief of Staff to the Administrator
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
In his capacity as Chief of Staff to the Administrator, Scott C. Rayder is charged with formulating, guiding and integrating policy, budget and program initiatives with senior National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) management to ensure consistency across the agency’s diversity of internal program responsibilities and with those of partnering organizations.
Previously, Rayder was the Director of Government Relations at the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE). While there, he developed and implemented CORE’s legislative strategy in conjunction with the executive staff and the CORE Board of Governors. Prior to his work with CORE, Rayder was a senior technology policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation, where his interests related to privacy, tort reform, research and development and its associated tax credits, and cyber-security issues. He also worked on general science, regulatory and budget-related matters.
Rayder conducted oversight on a number of programs or issues for the Committee on Science in the late 1990s, particularly for the Advanced Technology Program, Mir Space Station, U.S. ocean science programs and U.S. satellite technologies.
He received his bachelor’s degree in government and geology from Hamilton College in New York in 1990 and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University in 1992. He served as a Presidential management intern position in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research from1992until 1995, before moving to NOAA’s Office of Constituent Affairs to work with stakeholders to improve the delivery of NOAA services to its clientele.