Christopher Scolese
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Aeronautics and Space Administration and served as that agency's acting Administrator during the period following Michael D. Griffin
Michael D. Griffin
Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer. From April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009 he served as Administrator of NASA, the space agency of the United States...
's resignation, effective January 20, 2009, until Charles F. Bolden, Jr.'s
Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
Charles Frank "Charlie" Bolden, Jr. is the current Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps major general, and former NASA astronaut....
confirmation by the United States Senate, on July 15, 2009.
History
Christopher Scolese worked in industry and the government before being appointed a position at Goddard Space Flight CenterGoddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
in 1987. At the General Research Corporation of McLean, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, he worked as an analyst. He helped out in the development of instruments for the U.S Navy after Hyman Rickover of Naval Sea Systems Command
Naval Sea Systems Command
The Naval Sea Systems Command is the largest of the U.S. Navy's five "systems commands," or materiel organizations...
(NAVSEA) chose him to work at Naval Reactors.
At Goddard Space Flight Center, Scolese served in several positions in the Earth Observing System
Earth Observing System
The Earth Observing System is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. The satellite component of the program was...
(EOS) office before becoming the Terra Program Manager and later EOS Program Manager in the late 90's. He also served as Deputy Director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science.
At NASA Headquarters, Scolese became the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Science. Later, he returned to Goddard as Deputy Director-Technical, and was promoted to Deputy Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center in August 2004.
In September 2005 he became Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters, responsible for the overall review and technical readiness of all NASA programs. Scolese was chosen to succeed Rex Geveden
Rex Geveden
Rex Geveden is the president of Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama. Previously he was the Associate Administrator of NASA. He was selected for that position by NASA chief Michael Griffin on August 17, 2005, after having served in an acting capacity since June of that year. Griffin...
as NASA Associate Administrator at the end of July 2007. Geveden and Scolese both served as Deputy Director of Goddard Space Flight Center before being promoted to Chief Engineer of NASA and then to Associate Administrator; Scolese's replacement as Chief Engineer of NASA was also promoted to that position from being Deputy Director of Goddard.
Awards
During his life Scolese has received many awards, such as the Presidential Rank award. He received one medal for Outstanding Leadership at Goddard, and two for the same at NASA, including the 2009 NASA Distinguished Service MedalNASA Distinguished Service Medal
The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award which may be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States...
.
Other positions
Apart from the positions covered above, Christopher Scolese was also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
Astrodynamics Technical Committee. At the latter institute he was chairman of the Control Technical Committee and National Capitol Section Guidance Navigation.