George Cathcart, who has served as the university spokesman for the past six years, will be leaving next month for a job at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Cathcart was director of university communication during key events, including Sept. 11, the men’s basketball NCAA championship and, most recently, the Deep Impact space launch headed by the university.

Cathcart will work in the communications department of the Estuarine Reserves Division of NOAA in Silver Spring beginning Aug. 22. Cathcart always had an interest in environmental issues and thought NOAA would be a good opportunity.

“I’ve been very happy working for the university,” Cathcart said. “Environment is one of the most important issues facing us. The protection of the planets and the habitat are crucial to human life.”

He is most proud of the staff he hired in the media relations office and the way the office transformed its operations. Under Cathcart, they put an emphasis on the university’s position and its expertise. They eliminated the beat system and concentrated on the issues instead.

Cathcart grew up in New York and received a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from The George Washington University in Washington. He worked at a South Carolina newspaper for 11 years covering environmental issues. He left the journalism business for higher education, and moved to Arizona in 1984 where he served as director of communications at Arizona State University.

“I will always keep an interest in higher education,” Cathcart said. “But environmental issues have always fascinated me.”

Cathcart’s hobbies include deep water diving and volunteering at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Cathcart has been married for the past 23 years and has two children. His 18-year-old daughter just graduated from Hammond High School in Columbia and will attend the university next year.

“I’ve been here to watch the university rise in the rankings,” he said. “It’s just been a really phenomenal place to be and to some degree, be a part of that.”