New Administrators Both Returning To NASA
Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on
Wednesday as the twelfth administrator of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration. Lori Beth Garver was confirmed as NASA's
deputy administrator.
As administrator, Bolden will lead the NASA team and manage its
resources to advance the agency's missions and goals.
"It is an honor to have been nominated by President Obama and
confirmed by the Senate to lead this great NASA team," Bolden said.
"Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our
hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this
commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently
to push the frontiers of space."
"If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the
International Space Station, accelerate development of our next
generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration,
enhance NASA's capability to study Earth's environment, lead space
science to new achievements, continue cutting-edge aeronautics
research, support the innovation of American entrepreneurs, and
inspire a rising generation of boys and girls to seek careers in
science, technology, engineering and math."
Bolden's confirmation marks the beginning of his second stint
with NASA. His 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14
years as a member of NASA's Astronaut Office. After joining the
office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space
shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His
flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the
first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a
cosmonaut as a member of his crew.
Charles Bolden
During his astronaut career, Bolden also drew technical
assignments as the Astronaut Office safety officer; technical
assistant to the director of Flight Crew Operations; special
assistant to the director of the Johnson Space Center; chief of the
Safety Division at Johnson (overseeing safety efforts for the
return to flight after the 1986 Challenger accident); lead
astronaut for vehicle test and checkout at the Kennedy Space
Center; and assistant deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters. He
was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.
Immediately prior to Bolden's nomination for the NASA
administrator's job, he was employed as the chief executive officer
of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business enterprise providing
leadership, military and aerospace consulting, and motivational
speaking. A resident of Houston, the 62-year-old South Carolina
native earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical science
from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He completed flight training
in 1970 and became a naval aviator, serving as a combat pilot in
Southeast Asia and later, as a test pilot. Bolden retired from the
Marine Corps in 2003 with the rank of major general.
Like Bolden, Garver's confirmation as deputy administrator marks
the second time she has worked for NASA. Her first stint at the
agency was from 1996 to 2001. Initially, she served as a special
assistant to the NASA administrator and senior policy analyst for
the Office of Policy and Plans, before becoming the associate
administrator for the Office of Policy and Plans. Reporting to the
NASA administrator, she oversaw the analysis, development and
integration of policies and long-range plans, the NASA Strategic
Management System, and the NASA Advisory Council.
Lori Garver
As deputy administrator, Garver will be NASA's second in
command. She is responsible to the administrator for providing
overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency.
Garver will represent NASA to the Executive Office of the
President, Congress, heads of government agencies, international
organizations, and external organizations and communities. She also
will oversee the work of NASA’s functional offices, including
the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General
Counsel and Office of Strategic Communications.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to serve under Charlie
Bolden's leadership," Garver said. "My previous five years at NASA
exposed me to the incredible talent of the workforce there. The
unbelievable achievements of this team over its 50-year history are
unmatched. I look forward to working with Charlie and the NASA team
to make our agency work as effectively as it can for the American
people."
A 48-year-old Michigan native, Garver earned a bachelor's degree in
political science and economics from Colorado College in 1983. Her
focus immediately turned to space when she accepted a job working
for Sen. John Glenn from 1983 to 1984. She since has served in a
variety of senior roles in the nonprofit, government and commercial
sectors.
From January 2001 until her nomination as NASA's deputy
administrator, Garver was a full-time consultant as the president
of Capital Space, LLC, and senior advisor for space at the Avascent
Group. In these roles, she provided strategic planning, technology
feasibility research and business development assistance, as well
as merger, acquisition and strategic alliance support, to financial
institutions and Fortune 500 companies.