Ann Terbush Schaefer
NOAA Heritage Oral History Project
NOAA Heritage Oral History Project aims to document the history and legacy of NOAA through compelling interviews with its leaders. These firsthand accounts provide an invaluable resource that preserves NOAA's significant contributions to environmental research and management, fostering a deeper understanding of NOAA's vital role in shaping our understanding of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere.
Ann Terbush Schaefer was born in San Francisco in 1947. Her family moved to New York, where Ann attended the High School of Music and Art, before moving again to Washington, DC, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. Ann started her college career at Wells College in Aurora, New York. She transferred to George Washington University with a fine arts degree in 1969. She eventually also earned her master’s in public administration from American University in 1983. Ann had a long career in the federal government, starting as a program assistant for the Economic Development Administration. She came to NOAA in 1977, working for the NOAA Office of Management and Budget. Ann had various positions with the Office of Fisheries Management and the Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management before spending twelve years with the Office of Protected Resources as Chief of the Permits and Documentation Division. Ann is also an artist and landscape painter. She has one son from her first marriage. In 1990, Ann married Richard Schaefer, former Director of the Fisheries Conservation and Management Office.
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