Dr. Stephen Bieda III is the Incoming Commissioner for the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Scientific & Technological Activities Commission (STAC). In this leadership role, he is dedicated to driving scientific advancement and technological innovation across the weather, water, and climate community, with a focus on accelerating Research-to-Operations (R2O) pathways and fostering critical collaboration among government, academia, and private industry partners.
Dr. Bieda currently serves as the Chief of the Severe, Fire, Public, and Winter Weather Services Branch at National Weather Service Headquarters. He leads cross-disciplinary teams in national service delivery and is responsible for the overall strategy, policy, and administrative oversight of these vital programs. As a trusted advisor to senior leaders, including the White House and Congress, he successfully secured multi-million-dollar investments for warning infrastructure modernization, enhanced interagency coordination, and spearheaded national initiatives on wildfire risk mitigation, severe weather resilience, and extreme heat understanding.
His career includes serving as the NWS National Science & Operations Officer, where he acted as the agency's principal expert on meteorology, hydrology, and climatology. He oversaw a workforce of 141 Science & Operations Officers and Development & Operations Hydrologists, directed major R2O initiatives, and was instrumental in shaping the NWS Transformation Roadmap. This work established national teams and integrated strategic priorities such as cloud computing, AI/ML, and probabilistic forecasting. His field experience also includes serving as Science & Operations Officer in NWS offices (Amarillo, TX and Pendleton, OR) and as the USAF 25th Operational Weather Squadron Science & Operations Officer and Director of Training & Standards (2009-2013).
Dr. Bieda holds a Ph.D. in Arid Land Resource Sciences, an M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences, and a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences, all from the University of Arizona. He is a committed leader in the AMS, active since 2002. He currently serves as an Editor for the AMS Journal of Weather and Forecasting, previously chaired the AMS Committee on Weather Analysis & Forecasting and the AMS Board for Operational Government Meteorologists. In these roles, he was involved in establishing the AMS Board for Student Affairs and led the development of key policy statements and strategic planning documents. He is a graduate of various Executive Leadership programs, including the Federal Executive Institute, and is a current participant in the AI Government Leadership Program.