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| Joseph Vadus, Vice President IEEE/OES Technical Activities, recipient of France's National Award, with Dr. Thomas Wiener, IEEE/OES Treasurer at Reception-Award Ceremony held at France's Consul General's home in Bethesda, MD. |
Last year, the President of France approved the selection of Joseph R. Vadus for the French National award of, "Chevalier de "Odre National du Merite." On January 20, 2000, Consul General, M. Alain de Kehgel of the Embassy of France in Washington D.C., presented him with the silver and blue cross of the Knight of the French National Order of Merit at a reception- award ceremony, with many friends from the Washington area in attendance. The award recognized his valuable contributions to U.S.–France cooperation for over 20 years. He was most appreciative and acknowledged his wife Gloria’s contributions. In 1973, while at NOAA serving as manager of technology in the Manned Undersea Science and Technology Office, he began interacting with France’s National Center for Exploration of the Ocean (CNEXO), now called IFREMER, by sharing technology and engaging in cooperative activities with under- sea vehicles and underwater habitats. From 1980 through 1995, Vadus served as U.S. Program Leader for Marine Technology in the U.S.- France Cooperation in Oceanography. He provided sustained leadership in cooperation on Marine Technology including joint projects with undersea vehicles, ROV’s, AUV’s, oceanographic equipment, telemetry, OTEC, and fisheries technology. His main French counterparts over these years were Capt. Dominique Girard, M. Guy Herrouin and M. Jean Jarry.
In 1985, one of six projects in the marine technology program with co-leader Jean Jarry, evaluation of deep submergence survey systems viz., Woods Hole Argo System (headed by Robert Ballard) and France’s SAR System (headed by Jean Louis Michel) resulted in successful evaluation, and the spectacular discovery of RMS TITANIC. This was but one of the many cooperative projects in the Marine Technology Program. Vadus retired from NOAA in 1996. He is consultant to SEA TECHNOLOGY for International Programs, and is President of his consulting firm, Global Ocean Inc., Potomac, MD.