In May 1964, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology, Dr. Herbert Holloman, established a special committee to review the environmental science service activities and responsibilities of the United States Department of Commerce. Committee members included the Director of the United States Weather Bureau, Dr. Robert M. White (1923–2015); the Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Rear Admiral Henry Arnold Karo (1903–1986) of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps; the Director of the National Bureau of Standards, Allen V. Astin (1904–1984); and a panel of scientists from industry and academia. The committee's goal was to consider ways of improving the Department of Commerce's environmental science efforts by improving management efficiency and making the provision of environmental science services to the public more effective. The committee's work resulted in its recommendation that the Department of Commerce consolidate various scientific efforts scattered within and between the Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and National Bureau of Standards by establishing a new parent agency – the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) – which would coordinate the activities of the Weather Bureau and Coast and Geodetic Survey and bring at least some of their efforts, along with some of the work done in the National Bureau of Standards, together into new organizations that focused scientific and engineering mission support for shared areas of inquiry.