List of administrators and deputy administrators of NASA

The administrators and deputy administrators of NASA are the highest-ranked officials of NASA, the space agency of the United States Federal Government. The administrator serves as the senior space science advisor to the President of the United States. According to NASA, the role of the administrator is to "lead the NASA team and manage its resources to advance the Vision for Space Exploration."[1] The deputy administrator of NASA "serves as the agency's second in command and is responsible to the administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. They represent NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. They also oversee the day to day work of NASA's functional offices, such as the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel and Strategic Communications", according to NASA (referring to Shana Dale).[2]

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Seal Constituent part of the administrator's standard
Incumbent Steve Jurczyk (Acting) since January 20, 2021
Reports to	President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Nominator	President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Inaugural holder	Thomas Keith Glennan
Salary	$185,100 annually (Executive Schedule II)
Website	Steve Jurczyk, NASA

The first administrator of NASA was Dr. T. Keith Glennan; during his term he brought together the disparate projects in space development research in the US.[3] Daniel Goldin held the post for the longest term (nearly 10 years), and is best known for pioneering the "faster, better, cheaper" approach to space programs.[4] The only person to hold the post twice is James C. Fletcher, who returned to NASA following the Challenger disaster.[5]

The longest-running (acting) deputy administrator was John R. Dailey, who held the post following his retirement from the United States Marine Corps.[6] The longest-running full deputy administrator was Hugh Latimer Dryden, who was the first deputy administrator.[7] William R. Graham has held the post of Deputy Administrator twice, and was the acting administrator in between,[8] as did Frederick D. Gregory.[9] Dr. Daniel Mulville served as the acting deputy administrator twice, and was acting administrator in between.[10]

The current administrator is Steve Jurczyk, who became acting administrator on January 20th, 2021 after the departure of Jim Bridenstine.

Administrators

Status

  Denotes an acting administrator of NASA

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Days served	President serving under
1		T. Keith Glennan	August 19, 1958	January 20, 1961	885		Dwight D. Eisenhower
		Dr. Hugh L. Dryden	January 21, 1961	February 14, 1961	24		John F. Kennedy
2		James E. Webb	February 14, 1961	October 7, 1968	1035
					1781 (2816 total)		Lyndon B. Johnson
3		Dr. Thomas O. Paine	October 8, 1968	March 21, 1969	104
					60		Richard Nixon
			March 21, 1969	September 15, 1970	543 (707 total)
-		Dr. George M. Low	September 16, 1970	April 26, 1971	222
4		Dr. James C. Fletcher	April 27, 1971	May 1, 1977	1200
					895		Gerald Ford
					101 (3258 total)		Jimmy Carter
-		Dr. Alan M. Lovelace	May 2, 1977	June 20, 1977	49
5		Dr. Robert A. Frosch	June 21, 1977	January 20, 1981	1309
-		Dr. Alan M. Lovelace	January 21, 1981	July 10, 1981	171 (220 total)		Ronald Reagan
6		James M. Beggs	July 10, 1981	December 4, 1985	1608
-		Dr. William R. Graham	December 4, 1985	May 11, 1986	158
7		Dr. James C. Fletcher	May 12, 1986	April 8, 1989	984
					78 (3258 total)		George H.W. Bush
-		Dale D. Myers	April 8, 1989	May 13, 1989	35
8		VADM (Ret.) Richard H. Truly	May 14, 1989	June 30, 1989	47
			July 1, 1989	March 31, 1992	1004 (1052 total)
9		Daniel S. Goldin	April 1, 1992	November 17, 2001	294
					2922		Bill Clinton
					301 (3517 total)		George W. Bush
-		Dr. Daniel R. Mulville	November 19, 2001	December 21, 2001	32
10		Sean O'Keefe	December 21, 2001	February 11, 2005	1148
-		Col (Ret.) Frederick D. Gregory	February 11, 2005	April 14, 2005	62
11		Dr. Michael D. Griffin	April 14, 2005	January 20, 2009	1377
-		Christopher Scolese	January 21, 2009	July 16, 2009	176		Barack Obama
12		Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Charles F. Bolden, Jr.	July 17, 2009	January 20, 2017	2744
-		Robert M. Lightfoot Jr.	January 20, 2017	April 23, 2018	458		Donald Trump
13		Maj. Jim Bridenstine	April 23, 2018	January 20, 2021	1003
-		Steve Jurczyk	January 20, 2021	Incumbent	20		Joe Biden

Deputy administrators

Photograph	Name	Term start	Term end	Term length	Ref(s)
	Dr. Hugh L. Dryden	August 19, 1958	December 2, 1965	2662 days	[11]
	Dr. Robert C. Seamans Jr.	December 21, 1965	January 5, 1968	745 days	[11]
	Dr. Thomas O. Paine	March 25, 1968	March 20, 1969	360 days	[11]
	Dr. George M. Low	December 3, 1969	June 5, 1976	2376 days	[11]
	Dr. Alan M. Lovelace	July 2, 1976	July 10, 1981	1834 days	[11]
	Dr. Hans Mark	July 10, 1981	September 1, 1984	1149 days	[11]
	Dr. William R. Graham	November 25, 1985	December 4, 1985	9 days	[11]
	Dr. William R. Graham	May 11, 1986	October 1, 1986	143 days	[11]
	Dale D. Myers	October 6, 1986	May 13, 1989	950 days	[11]
	James R. Thompson, Jr.	July 6, 1989	November 8, 1991	885 days	[11]
	Aaron Cohen (acting)	February 19, 1992	November 1, 1992	256 days	[11]
	John R. Dailey (acting)	November 3, 1992	December 31, 1999	3173 days	[11]
	Dr. Daniel Mulville (acting)	January 1, 2000	November 19, 2001	688 days	[11]
	Dr. Daniel Mulville (acting)	December 21, 2001	August 11, 2002	233 days	[11]
	Frederick D. Gregory	August 12, 2002	February 20, 2005	923 days	[11]
	Frederick D. Gregory	April 14, 2005	November 4, 2005	204 days	[11]
	Shana Dale	November 4, 2005	January 17, 2009	1171 days	[11]
	Lori Garver	July 17, 2009	September 6, 2013	1512 days	[11]
	Dr. Dava Newman	May 15, 2015	January 20, 2017	616 days	[11]
	Lesa Roe (Acting)	January 20, 2017	September 30, 2017	253 days	[12]
	James Morhard	October 17, 2018	January 20, 2021	826 days

Line of succession

The line of succession for the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is as follows:[13]

1. Deputy administrator of NASA
2. Associate administrator of NASA
   – Deputy associate administrator of NASA (if applicable)
3. Chief of staff to the NASA administrator
4. Director of Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas)
5. Director of Kennedy Space Center (Merritt Island, Florida)
6. Director of Marshall Space Flight Center (Redstone Arsenal, Alabama)

In the event of there being no deputy administrator of NASA, and the associate administrator serving as acting administrator, then the deputy associate administrator assumes the role of acting deputy administrator.

See also

• Chairmen of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• NASA Chief Scientist

References

1. "Biography of Michael D. Griffin, NASA Administrator". NASA. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
2. "Biography of Shana Dale, NASA Deputy Administrator". NASA. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
3. "T. Keith Glennan biography". NASA. August 4, 2006. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
4. "Daniel S. Goldin biography". NASA. March 12, 2004. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
5. "James C. Fletcher biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
6. "General John Dailey biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
7. "Hugh L. Dryden biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
8. "William R. Graham biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
9. "Frederick D. Gregory". NASA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
10. "Daniel Mulville biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
11. "List of Administrators and Deputy Administrators of NASA". NASA. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
12. Dunbar, Brian (January 8, 2015). "NASA Organization Structure". NASA. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
13. "Designation of Officers of the National Aeronautics And Space Administration To Act as Administrator". Federal Register. January 22, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2016.