Rick Brennan
Richard Thomas Brennan, Jr. (August 15, 1968 – May 15, 2021) was a rear admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps where he served as the 31st director of the Office of Coast Survey, replacing Shepard Smith. He also commanded NOAA Ship Rainier and NOAA Ship Rude. In 2020 Brennan was elected the president of The Hydrographic Society of America. Later in 2021, he was inducted into the Hydrographer Hall of Fame. The NOAA Rear Admiral Richard T. Brennan Ocean Mapping Matching Fund program established by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is named after Brennan. Early life and education He graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Brennan completed a Master of Science degree in Ocean Engineering at the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. While at UNH he developed the uncertainty component for the Tidal Constituent and Residual Interpolation model of hydrographic survey for Tidal Correction of Bathymetric Data. Career Early career Brennan was commissioned in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps in January 1992. His first assignment was to the NOAA Ship Rude, a 90-foot hydrographic vessel. In August 1992, Brennan was involved in the