GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — The National Park Service has chosen a new deputy superintendent for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Superintendent Dale Ditmanson announced Tuesday that Patricia M. Wissinger will report for her new post in mid-September. Wissinger is now the superintendent of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta.

She is a career National Park Service employee who began her career in 1980 as a seasonal campground ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway and moved up through the ranks.

Wissinger is a native of North Carolina and holds a master's degree in public administration from Western Carolina University.

She will replace Kevin Fitzgerald, who retired this year.

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