Dedicated to an Airport and Aviation System Worthy of Great State

Carolyn Blum Retiring After 38 Years

Carolyn Blum, Regional Administrator for Southern Region is retiring. Carolyn Blum has set her retirement date for August 3 after 38 years of Federal service.

Carolyn started her career with NASA, joined DOT in the Office of the Secretary in 1974, and the FAA as a Senior Executive in 1987. After a distinguished career in the acquisition field, she took over leadership in the Southern Region in 1994.  We really saw her blossom in that role.  She saw us through the 1996 Olympics, the Centennial of Flight, and the commissioning of 4 OEP runways - just to name a few highlights.

In her spare time she is known as the "queen of hurricanes" and as a seasoned veteran of disaster response she was invaluable during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.  Some of you may not remember, but she was also the founding mother of the Accountability Board.  Carolyn was also instrumental in the development of our successful RTAP process. 

Until she retires, Carolyn will be spending most of her time in Headquarters assisting with disaster response planning.  We have asked Eddie Thomas, ASO's Regional Counsel, to serve as acting Regional Administrator in Southern until Doug arrives in late summer.

Doug Murphy Is Our New Regional Administrator for Southern Region

We are pleased to announce that we have selected Doug Murphy, currently the Regional Administrator in Northwest Mountain Region, to become our next Regional Administrator in Southern.  Doug has served as Regional Administrator in Northwest Mountain since October 2003. 

Prior to this he served as Manager of Southwest Region's Air Traffic Division for eight years.  A controller by profession, he has held a number of key executive and management positions during his 35 year FAA career including assignments in four FAA regions, the FAA Academy and FAA Headquarters. Doug is a 12 year member of FAA's Senior Executive Service and has received more than 35 awards during his career including the Department of Transportation's Silver Medal for Meritorious Achievement in 2005. 

He received the NBAA's Order of the Silk Scarf and ATCA's Quesada Award as the nation's outstanding air traffic manager.  Doug also received a Congressional Letter of Commendation for his leadership rebuilding the air traffic controller work force while serving as Superintendent of the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. We are pleased to have a veteran like Doug take over the helm in the Southern Region.