Michel Jarraud was appointed Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization by Fourteenth World Meteorological Congress and took up his post on 1 January 2004. He was re-appointed by Fifteenth World Meteorological Congress for a second four-year term starting 1 January 2008. Before joining the WMO Secretariat as Deputy Secretary-General in January 1995, Mr. Jarraud devoted part of his career to the internationally renowned European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). He was appointed Deputy Director of the Centre in 1991, having been Director of the Operational Department since 1990. From June 1978 to December 1985, he was a researcher in numerical weather prediction at ECMWF. Mr. Jarraud started his career with the French National Meteorological Service, France, as a researcher (September 1976-May 1978). He joined France again in January 1986 as Director of the Weather Forecasting Department, until December 1989.