Christopher Scolese Named as Deputy Director of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Goddard Space Flight Center Director Dr. Edward Weiler today named Christopher Scolese as the Centers Deputy Director.

Scolese succeeds William Townsend who announced yesterday his plans to retire from NASA at the end of the month.

Scolese currently serves as the Deputy Director-Technical at Goddard. In his new capacity as Deputy Director, Scolese will serve as the principal operating official with general management responsibility for Center programmatic activities and management of resources.

Previously,
Scolese was the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters where 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.

Before going to NASA Headquarters, Scolese worked at Goddard as the EOS Program Manager and the Deputy Director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science. In this position he was responsible for the operation and development of all Earth Science missions assigned to Goddard. He also served at Goddard as the EOS Terra Project Manager responsible for the development of the 5 EOS-AM instruments, the CERES instrument for TRMM, the EOS-AM spacecraft, the interface with the Earth Science Data and Information System, and the integration and launch of these elements.

Scolese was the EOS Systems Manager responsible for the EOS system architecture and the integration of all facets of the project. During his tenure at GSFC, which began in 1987, he chaired the EOS Blue Team that rescoped the EOS Program; he supported the EOS investigators in the development of the EOS payloads in the restructured EOS; and he has been responsible for the adoption of common data system architecture on EOS and some other earth orbiting spacecraft.

Prior to his 1987 appointment at GSFC, Scolese’s experience included experience in industry and government. While a senior analyst at the General Research Corporation of McLean, Virginia he participated in several SDIO programs. He was selected by ADM Rickover to serve at Naval Reactors where he was associated with the development of instrumentation, instrument systems, and multi-processor systems for the U.S. Navy and the DOE while working for NAVSEA.

Mr. Scolese served in the U.S. Navy from 1978 to 1983. He graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the George Washington University.

Mr. Scolese is the recipient of several honors including the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, GSFC Outstanding Leadership, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, the AIAA National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year award. He was recognized as one of the outstanding young men in America in 1986, was a member of college honor societies including Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi, and was recipient of the 1973 Calspan Aeronautics award.

He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has served as a member of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee and chaired the National Capitol Section Guidance Navigation and Control Technical Committee. 

Scolese lives in Springfield Va., with his wife Dianne and four children.