CHRIS SCOLESE
NASA Associate Administrator

Christopher Scolese is Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is the agency's highest-ranking civil servant position.

As Associate Administrator, Scolese is responsible for the oversight and integration of NASA's programmatic and technical efforts to ensure the successful accomplishment of the Agency’s overall mission. From Jan. 20, 2009, until July 2009, Scolese served as the Acting Administrator of NASA, responsible for leading the development, design, and implementation of the civil space program. Scolese provided overall leadership for NASA's multiple field installations, worked closely with the executive and legislative branches to ensure that NASA was supporting appropriate national policy, and led an international collaboration in carrying out high-profile space missions including the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Previously, Scolese served as NASA's Chief Engineer, responsible for ensuring that development and mission operations were planned and conducted on a sound engineering basis, as well as for the long-term health of the NASA engineering workforce.

Formerly, Scolese was the Deputy Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center where he assisted the Director in overseeing all activities. He also served as the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. In this position, he was responsible for the management, direction and oversight of NASA's Space Science Flight Program, mission studies, technology development and overall contract management of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also served as the EOS Program Manager and the Deputy Director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Prior to his 1987 appointment at Goddard, Scolese's experience included work in industry and government. While a senior analyst at the General Research Corporation of McLean, Va., he participated in several SDIO programs. He was selected by Admiral Hyman Rickover to serve at Naval Reactors where he was associated with the development of instrumentation, instrument systems and multi-processor systems for the U.S. Navy and the DOE while working for NAVSEA.

Scolese is the recipient of several honors including the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, Goddard Outstanding Leadership, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year award. He was recognized as one of the outstanding young men in America in 1986, was a member of college honor societies including Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi, and was recipient of the 1973 Calspan Aeronautics award. He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He also served as a member of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee and chaired the National Capitol Section Guidance Navigation and Control Technical Committee.