In this podcast episode, Evelyn Fields talks to AccuWeather about her childhood, what it was like to be the first woman and African-American to command a ship in the United States uniformed services for an extended assignment, and she shares advice to those who may want to follow in her footsteps.

Retired Rear Admiral Evelyn Fields devoted so much of her National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) career studying depths -- working a variety of leadership roles on hydrographic survey ships -- but it's the heights she climbed that made her career so impressive.

She was the first woman and first African-American to be director of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, saying it was "the ultimate challenge of my career." She also was the first woman and African-American to command a ship in the United States uniformed services for an extended assignment, taking charge of the research vessel McArthur in 1989.

Retired Rear Admiral Evelyn Fields, the first woman and first African-American director of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. (Photo courtesy of NOAA).

NOAA

And Fields was among the first group of women to join NOAA's officer corps in 1973, the first African-American woman to reach the rank of rear admiral and, at one point, the highest-ranking officer in the corps.

Evelyn Fields made it her personal crusade to introduce youngsters to careers in science and math. (Photo courtesy of NOAA).

(Photo courtesy of NOAA).

"Science organizations in the 1960s and '70s -- and the timeframe is a key part -- did not have a big female population," Fields told AccuWeather. "I can't tell you how many meetings I was the only female there. That's just how it was. But that was getting better by the time I left."

For someone whose career took her to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean and Alaskan seas among other destinations, Fields, now 70, remained grounded throughout.

"Treat others the way you want to be treated," Fields said in a 2013 interview. "In the military, it's maybe a little bit more difficult to do that because of the hierarchy that you have. But there is a certain amount of respect for an individual without giving away your authority. Treat people like they're people."

A Norfolk, Virginia, resident with a math degree from Norfolk State in 1972, Fields became a cartographer with NOAA. Fields joined the Commissioned Corps when NOAA began recruiting women as commissioned officers a year later -- and three years before women were allowed into the nation's service academies.

Fields' steady rise through the NOAA ranks included extensive work in the field of hydrography before she was chosen as commanding officer of the McArthur, an oceanographic and fisheries research vessel.

"I was ready to try something different," Fields told NOAA. "This gave me the opportunity to work with a different scientific complement on a project not involving charting. But more importantly, being selected to command McArthur was a real high point in my career."

It wouldn't be the final high point. After stints as director of the Commissioned Personnel Center then acting deputy director of the National Ocean Service in 1997, Fields reached her career pinnacle in 1999.

Ensigns Karen O'Donnell (left) and Evelyn Fields, unidentified ensign at radar, and Commander Ronald Buffington on the bridge of the NOAA Ship MT MITCHELL. Atlantic Ocean, East Coast of USA. (Photo courtesy of NOAA)

(Photo courtesy of NOAA)

President Bill Clinton appointed her director of the NOAA Corps and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations in January 1999 and she was confirmed by the Senate months later. The appointment boosted her to rear admiral, upper half, in a role that was responsible for the management of NOAA's fleet of research ships and aircraft and oversaw more than 1,100 employees.

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"When I made admiral that was just as significant to me as having command [of the McArthur]," Fields told AccuWeather. "I don't know that one was more impactful than the other, but they each certainly were at the time."

Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said then that Fields was "an exceptional, visionary officer" and retiring NOAA Corps director Rear Admiral William L. Stubblefield described her as an "outstanding officer and forward-looking leader ... [who] commands the loyalty and respect of those with whom she works."

Fields received a variety of awards throughout her career for her work with NOAA and her volunteer efforts, including her 1996 award as one of the top 50 minority women in science and engineering from the National Technical Association, and, in 2000, her Gold Medal for leadership -- the highest honor from the Department of Commerce.

Looking back on her career, Fields said in the 2013 interview, "We always want good things said about us, and I guess I'm no different than anyone else. I just hope that all of the efforts and all of the things I tried to do with absolutely good intent were received that way. And that's what will translate in the overall journey."

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