NASA GSFC Director Names Three Key Leadership Positions at Goddard

Goddard Space Flight Center Director Edward J. Weiler today announced three new appointments to key GSFC leadership positions.

Named today are:

• Dorothy (Dolly) Perkins as the Deputy Director-Technical
• Krista Paquin as the Associate Center Director
• Arthur (Rick) Obenschain as the Director of Flight Programs and Projects.

Ms. Perkins succeeds Chris Scolese, who has been named Deputy Director of Goddard. Paquin succeeds Alison McNally who now serves in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters as Deputy Associate Administrator for Management, and Mr. Obsenschain moves into the position formerly held by Perkins.

Ms. Perkins is currently the Director of Flight Programs and Projects where she has overseen the formulation and implementation of projects that are Goddard’s responsibility. She began her career at Goddard in 1981 as a software manager and throughout the 1980’s she held various project management positions for information system projects in support of NASA’s scientific research. In 1990, Ms. Perkins joined the Mission Operations Division as Associate Chief, becoming Division Chief in 1994.

In 1997, Ms. Perkins led the formation of Goddard’s Information Systems Center (now Division) and was subsequently appointed as Mission Services Manager for the NASA Space Operations Management Office. In 1998, she was appointed Deputy Director of Applied Engineering and Technology at Goddard, where she served until being assigned as the Deputy Associate Director of Flight Programs and Projects/Deputy Program Manager for EOS Operations at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Born in Easthampton, Mass., Ms. Perkins attended Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Mass., where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics.

Ms. Paquin began her Goddard career in the summer of 1984 as a Presidential Management Intern. After two years of rotational assignments across the Center, she accepted a position in the Comptrollers office as a Program Analyst. She was appointed Chief of the Institutional Support Office with the Management Operations Directorate in March of 1989. During her six years in that position, she also completed details to NASA Headquarters, Office of Aeronautics, and the Facilities Management Division at Goddard.

From March 1995 to June 1997, she served as the Associate Director of Management Operations, and was subsequently named the Deputy Director of the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate. Among her responsibilities during her four years in that position was a special assignment at the White House serving as a member of the President s Council on Y2K Conversion staff.

Following a senior position in private industry as the Vice President of a small science and technology company in the Washington area, Ms. Paquin returned to Goddard in June 2002 to her current position as Deputy Director for Planning and Business Management in the Flight Programs and Projects Directorate.

Ms. Paquin earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Urban Planning from the University of Maryland.

Mr. Obenschain was selected as the Director of the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate in June 2000, having previously served as the Deputy Director of AETD. He has also served as the Chief of the Electrical Systems Center in AETD and as a Project Manager on several of the largest projects within the GSFC Flight Programs and Projects Directorate including GOES, Landsat, and ESDIS.

From December 1996 to October 1998, he served as the Project Manager of the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project before being named the head of the Electrical Systems Center within Engineering Directorate.

He has held other positions at Goddard including Deputy Project Manager for the GSFC Space Station Freedom Development Project, Project Manager for the EOS Platforms Project, GOES Project Manager and Observatory Manager for the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory.

Mr. Obenschain began his career with NASA at GSFC in the early 60’s as a summer engineering aide, accepting a full-time position in the power systems development area in 1966 upon his graduation. He has worked almost exclusively on hardware development projects since 1966, with emphasis in electrical systems.

Mr. Obenschain earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland.