Nancy Hann, the NOAA vice admiral who led the agency through the tumultuous first months of the second Trump administration, is leaving the agency after 30 years.
In a Thursday email to colleagues provided to POLITICO’s E&E News, Hann said she planned to “retire from active duty service and transition to the next chapter of my life.”
Hann, who is currently NOAA’s deputy undersecretary for operations and chief operating officer, confirmed in a brief interview that she would retire on March 1, 2026. She declined to answer questions about her past 11 months at the agency, including her brief tenure as acting administrator.
An Illinois native, Hann joined the agency in 1996 as a fisheries observer in Hawaii after graduating from the University of San Diego. She was commissioned into the NOAA officer corps in 1999, and rose through the ranks to become a three-star vice admiral.
