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Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration (2007)

Chapter: D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff

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Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
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D
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff

DAVID C. BLACK, Co-chair, is the president and CEO of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a consortium of 97 different colleges and universities having graduate programs in space science or engineering. He is also adjunct professor of space physics and astronomy at Rice University. Between 1970 and 1975 Dr. Black served in various capacities at NASA’s Ames Research Center, including chief of the Theoretical Studies Branch and deputy chief of the Space Science Division, and he was the first chair of the Ames Basic Research Council. Dr. Black was selected as the first chief scientist for the space station program at NASA Headquarters in 1985. He returned to NASA Ames in 1987 as the chief scientist for space research. He spent an academic year as a visiting professor at the University of London (1974-1975). Dr. Black is an internationally recognized researcher in theoretical astrophysics and planetary science, specializing in studies of star and planetary system formation. He has also done pioneering experimental research involving the isotopic composition of noble gases in meteorites, was the first to discover and correctly identify evidence for non-solar material in solar system matter, and was the first to show that the isotopic composition of solar flare noble gases differs from that of solar wind noble gases. He is a leader in the current effort to search for and study other planetary systems. He is past chair of the Solar System Exploration Subcommittee and the Origins Subcommittee of NASA’s Space Science Advisory Committee. Dr. Black also served as a member of the NRC Planetary and Lunar Exploration Task Group (1984-1988) and the Working Group on Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (1979-1983).


DANIEL E. HASTINGS, Co-chair, is a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems and dean for undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was also the director of the MIT Engineering Systems Division and prior to that, the director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program. Dr. Hastings served as chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 1999 and as chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2002 to 2005. He is currently a member of the National Science Board. In his role as chief scientist, he led several influential studies on where the Air Force should invest in space, global energy projection, and options for a science and technology workforce for the 21st century. Dr. Hastings’ research at MIT has concentrated on issues related to spacecraft-environmental interactions, space propulsion, space systems engineering, and space policy. He has published papers and a book in the field of spacecraft-environment interactions and many papers on space propulsion and space systems design. Dr. Hastings has led several national studies on government investment in space technology. He has taught courses and seminars in plasma physics, rocket propulsion, advanced space power and propulsion systems, aerospace policy, and space systems engineering.

Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×

His recent research has concentrated on issues of space systems and space policy. Dr. Hastings is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He also served as a member of the National Academy of Engineering’s Organizing Committee for Frontiers of Engineering (1996 and 1997). Dr. Hastings’ NRC experience includes membership on the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (2000-2002), the Committee on Engineering Education (1999-2001), the Board on Engineering Education (1998-1999), the Committee on Advanced Space Technology (chair, 1997-1998), and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (1996-1997).


BURT S. BARNOW is associate director for research and principal research scientist in the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Barnow’s specialties include the evaluation of training programs and the operation of labor markets, and he has participated in recent relevant prior NRC studies on the nation’s information technology workforce. He teaches the evaluation course in the institute’s graduate public policy program and a course in labor economics for the Department of Economics. Before joining the Johns Hopkins’ staff, Dr. Barnow was vice president of a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He served 9 years in the Department of Labor, most recently as director of the Office of Research and Evaluation for the Employment and Training Administration. He is a member of the NRC Board on Higher Education and the Workforce, and he served as vice chair of the Committee on Workforce Needs in Information Technology (1999-2002).


JOHN W. DOUGLASS is president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Before joining AIA, Mr. Douglass served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for research, development, and acquisition of defense systems for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A nationally recognized expert in systems acquisition, Mr. Douglass has extensive acquisition experience in Congress, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the executive branch as a policy authority, contracting officer, engineering officer, test and evaluation officer, program control officer, and research director. Before being named a civilian Navy executive, Mr. Douglass was with the Senate Armed Services Committee where he was foreign policy and science and technology advisor to Senator Sam Nunn and served as lead minority staff member for defense conversion and technology reinvestment programs. Mr. Douglass completed 28 years of U.S. Air Force service and retired as a brigadier general in 1992. His numerous Air Force assignments included service as the deputy U.S. military representative to NATO as well as director of plans and policy and director of science and technology in the office of the secretary of the Air Force. He served on the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, which issued its final report in November 2002. Mr. Douglass served on the NRC Committee on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Infrastructure and Aerospace Engineering Disciplines to Meet the Needs of the Air Force and the DOD (1999-2002).


RAY M. HAYNES is director of university alliances and development at Northrop Grumman Space Technology. He has more than 20 years of experience in the aerospace industry, and his positions ranged from design engineer and systems analyst to senior vice president of international operations. In 1984, he took a leave of absence from the aerospace industry to teach in academe. During that time, he was adjunct professor of operations management at Arizona State University and professor and co-director of the graduate engineering management program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and received tenure there. During his academic career, Haynes published more than 100 articles/case studies on topics associated with engineering management and or/service operations optimization and leadership. He taught 27 different courses affecting more than 2,500 students in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Northrop Grumman currently has more than 100 “key” universities that provide technology, talent, processes, and enhanced customer relationships to the corporation. Haynes is active with several diversity initiatives, including being co-chair of the Native American Caucus at Northrop Grumman and a lifetime member of AISES and SACNAS, and he will co-chair the 2006 NAMEPA Conference in Phoenix.


MARGARET G. KIVELSON is Distinguished Professor of Space Physics in the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (acting director in 1999-2000) and the Department of Earth and Space Sciences (chair, 1984 to 1987) at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served on the faculty since 1975. Her research interests are in the areas of solar-terrestrial physics and planetary science. She is known for work on the particles

Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×

and magnetic fields in the surroundings of Earth and Jupiter and for investigations of properties of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. She was the principal investigator for the magnetometer on the Galileo Orbiter that acquired data in Jupiter’s magnetosphere for 8 years and is a co-investigator on various other investigations including the FGM (magnetometer) of the Cluster mission. Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship (1973-1974), the Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal (1983), the Harvard University 350th Anniversary Alumni Medal (1986), several NASA Group Achievement Awards, and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Physical Society, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was awarded the Alfven Medal of the European Geophysical Union and the Fleming Medal of the AGU in 2005. She has served on numerous advisory committees, including the NRC’s Space Studies Board, and on scientific visiting committees at Harvard University, various campuses of the University of California, the University of Michigan, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has published more than 280 research papers and is co-editor of a widely used textbook on space physics. She lectures on her scientific interests to professional and public audiences and enjoys introducing K-12 students to the wonders of the solar system. She has been active in efforts to identify the barriers faced by women as students, faculty, and practitioners of the physical sciences and to improve the environment in which they function.


WILLIAM POMERANTZ serves as the director of space projects for the X PRIZE Foundation, where he currently manages the creation and operations of all of the foundation’s new prizes in the field of aerospace. As an undergraduate, Mr. Pomerantz spent two summers at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, where he served as a research associate in the NASA Academy. After graduating, he worked as a planetary geologist at Brown University prior to earning a master’s degree at the International Space University. Mr. Pomerantz has also worked as an analyst at the Futron Corporation, an aerospace consultancy based in Bethesda, Maryland. He is the co-founder and editor of SpaceAlumni.com, an online news and social networking tool for young space professionals from around the world. Mr. Pomerantz is an officer of the ISU-USA Alumni association and a former officer of the Space Generation Foundation, the NASA Academy Alumni Association, and the Space Exploration Alliance.


JOSEPH H. ROTHENBERG is president and a member of the board of directors of Universal Space Network. From 1964 to 1981 he worked for Grumman Aerospace and was responsible for the development, test, orbital operations, and management for a number of NASA robotic spacecraft systems, including the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory Project and the Solar Maximum Mission. He joined NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in 1983. In 1990 he was assigned as the Hubble Space Telescope Project Manager and led the highly successful first servicing mission that corrected the flawed optics. He became Goddard center director in 1995 and was responsible for managing space systems development and operations, and for execution of the scientific research program for the NASA Earth-orbiting science missions. In January 1998 he moved to NASA headquarters where he was named associate administrator for spaceflight and was in charge of NASA’s human exploration and development of space. As associate administrator, Mr. Rothenberg was responsible for establishing policies and direction for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs, as well as for space communications and expendable launch services. Mr. Rothenberg served on the NRC Committee on Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope (2004-2005) and is co-chair of the NRC Beyond Einstein Program Assessment Committee (2006-2007).


KATHRYN C. THORNTON is a professor in the Department of Science, Technology and Society, and in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, at the University of Virginia and is associate dean in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Thornton served for 12 years as a NASA astronaut. She served on the NRC Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (1998-2004) and the Committee for Technological Literacy (1999-2002).

Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×

Staff

DWAYNE A. DAY, study director, has a Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University and has previously served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He was on the staff of the Congressional Budget Office and also worked for the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University. He has held Guggenheim and Verville fellowships and is an associate editor of the German spaceflight magazine Raumfahrt Concrete in addition to writing for such publications as Novosti Kosmonavtiki (Russia), Spaceflight, and Space Chronicle (United Kingdom). He has served as study director for several past and current NRC reports, including Space Radiation Hazards and the Vision for Space Exploration (2006), and for the Committee to Assess Solar System Exploration (2007).


JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, senior staff officer, served previously as director of the Space Studies Board (1999-2005), deputy assistant administrator for science in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (1994-1998), associate director of space sciences at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center (1993-1994), and assistant associate administrator for space sciences and applications in the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications (1987-1993). Other positions have included deputy NASA chief scientist and senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. Alexander’s own research work has been in radio astronomy and space physics. He received B.S. and M.A. degrees in physics from the College of William and Mary. He served as the study director for the committee’s interim report.


CATHERINE A. GRUBER is an assistant editor with the Space Studies Board. She joined SSB as a senior program assistant in 1995. Ms. Gruber first came to the NRC in 1988 as a senior secretary for the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and has also worked as an outreach assistant for the National Academy of Sciences–Smithsonian Institution’s National Science Resources Center. She was a research assistant (chemist) in the National Institute of Mental Health’s Laboratory of Cell Biology for 2 years. She has a B.A. in natural science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.


CELESTE NAYLOR joined the Space Studies Board in June 2002 as a senior project assistant. She has worked with the Committee on Assessment of Options to Extend the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope and also with the Committee on Microgravity Research and the Task Group on Research on the International Space Station. Ms. Naylor is a member of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and has more than 7 years of experience in event management.


VICTORIA SWISHER joined the Space Studies Board in December 2006 as a research associate. She recently received a B.A. in astronomy from Swarthmore College. She has presented the results of her research at the 2005 and 2006 AAS meetings and at various Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC) undergraduate research conferences. Her most recent research focused on laboratory astrophysics and involved studying the x-rays of plasma, culminating in a senior thesis titled “Modeling UV and X-ray Spectra from the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment.”


MATTHEW BROUGHTON, Space Studies Board 2005 summer space policy intern, is a senior at Augsburg College pursing a bachelor of science in physics and a bachelor of arts in English. His undergraduate research has been in space physics, specifically the distribution of Pc 3-4 waves in the outer magnetosphere.


EMILY K. McNEIL, Space Studies Board 2006 winter space policy intern, graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in physics and astronomy. She has presented her undergraduate research at the American Astronomical Society meeting, the Posters on the Hill session on Capitol Hill, and two KNAC conferences. In February 2007 she began her doctoral work in astrophysics at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Australian National University in Canberra.

Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff." National Research Council. 2007. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11916.
×
Page 66
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The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) announced by President George W. Bush in 2004 sets NASA and the nation on a bold path to return to the Moon and one day put a human on Mars. The long-term endeavor represented by the VSE is, however, subject to the constraints imposed by annual funding. Given that the VSE may take tens of years to implement, a significant issue is whether NASA and the United States will have the workforce needed to achieve that vision. The issues range from short-term concerns about the current workforce's skills for overseeing the development of new spacecraft and launch vehicles for the VSE to long-term issues regarding the training, recruiting, and retaining of scientists and engineers in-house as well as in industry and academia.

Asked to explore science and technology (S&T) workforce needs to achieve the nation's long-term space exploration, the Committee on Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration concluded that in the short term, NASA does not possess the requisite in-house personnel with the experience in human spaceflight systems development needed to implement the VSE. But the committee acknowledges that NASA is cognizant of this fact and has taken steps to correct it, primarily by seeking to recruit highly skilled personnel from outside NASA, including persons from industry and retirees.

For the long term, NASA has to ask if it is attracting and developing the talent it will need to execute a mission to return to the Moon, and the agency must identify what it needs to do to attract and develop a world-class workforce to explore other worlds. A major challenge for NASA is reorienting its human spaceflight workforce from the operation of current vehicles to the development of new vehicles at least throughout the next decade, as well as starting operations with new rockets and new spacecraft.

The committee emphasizes further that when evaluating its future workforce requirements, NASA has to consider not only programs for students, but also training opportunities for its current employees. NASA's training programs at the agency's various field centers, which are focused on NASA's civil service talent, require support to prevent the agency's internal skill base from withering. Furthermore, NASA faces the risk that, if it fails to nurture its own internal workforce, skilled personnel will be attracted to other government agencies and industry. Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration explains the findings and recommendations of the committee.

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