Christopher J. Scolese is an American engineer and intelligence official serving as the director of the

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. fe ...

. He was appointed the 19th director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) on August 1, 2019. Scolese was sworn into office on August 5, 2019.

Education

Scolese holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in electrical and computer engineering from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

(1978); a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

(1982); and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (2016). He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University at Buffalo in 2015.

Career

Scolese began his government career as a United States Naval Officer in 1978, supporting a variety of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programs for the U.S. Navy and the Department of Energy. He served on active duty until 1983, and then in the Navy Reserve until 1991, retiring as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. In 1987, following a brief period of service working in government and industry, Scolese joined

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

, where he was assigned to the Goddard Space Flight Center. During this period, he served in a variety of senior management positions including; Earth Observing System (EOS) systems manager, EOS Terra project manager, EOS program manager, and deputy director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science. In 2001, Scolese was assigned to

NASA Headquarters NASA Headquarters, officially known as Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters or NASA HQ and formerly named Two Independence Square, is a low-rise office building in the two-building Independence Square complex at 300 E Street SW in Washington, D.C. ...

in Washington, D.C. where he served as the deputy associate administrator in the Office of Space Science. 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 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

. In 2004, Scolese went on to become the deputy director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he assisted the director in overseeing all activities, before returning to Washington, D.C. to become NASA's chief engineer in 2005. As chief engineer, he was responsible for ensuring all development and mission operations were planned and conducted on a sound engineering basis. In 2007, he was appointed the associate administrator, responsible for the oversight and integration of NASA's programmatic and technical efforts. And from January 20 2009 to July 2009, Scolese served as NASA's acting administrator, responsible for leading the development, design and implementation of the nation's civil space program. In 2012, Scolese went on to serve as the director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he led the nation's largest organization of scientists, engineers and technologists responsible for building spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study Earth, the Sun, the Solar System, and the universe. On July 31, 2019, he retired from NASA to become director of the

References

External links

NASA biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scolese, Christopher 1956 births Directors of the National Reconnaissance Office George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Goddard Space Flight Center people Living people NASA people University at Buffalo alumni Trump administration personnel