JANET LYNN KAVANDI (PH.D.)

CENTER DIRECTOR, GLENN RESEARCH CENTER

NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in Springfield, Missouri. Married to John Kavandi. They have 

two children. She enjoys snow skiing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, windsurfing, 

flying, scuba diving, piano. Her parents, William and Ruth Sellers of Cassville, Missouri, 

are deceased.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Carthage Senior High School, Carthage Missouri, in 1977; 

received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Missouri Southern State College -

Joplin in 1980; Master of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Missouri -

Rolla in 1982; Doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Washington -

Seattle in 1990.

SPECIAL HONORS: Elected to the National Honor Society, 1977. Valedictorian of Carthage Senior High School, 1977. 

Awarded Presidential Scholarship from Missouri Southern State University, 1977. Graduated Magma Cum Laude from Missouri 

Southern State University, 1980. Awarded certificates for Team Excellence and Performance Excellence from Boeing Missile 

Systems, 1991. Recipient of three NASA Space Flight Medals for shuttle flights STS-91, STS-99, and STS-104. Presented the 

NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 2001 and 2002. Presented the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, 2006.

EXPERIENCE: Following graduation in 1982, Dr. Kavandi accepted a position at Eagle-Picher Industries in Joplin, Missouri, 

as an engineer in new battery development for defense applications. In 1984, she accepted a position as an engineer in the Power 

Systems Technology Department of the Boeing Aerospace Company in Seattle, Washington. She served as lead engineer of 

secondary power for the Short Range Attack Missile II, and principal technical staff representative involved in the design and 

development of thermal batteries for Sea Lance and the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile. Other programs she supported 

include Space Station, Lunar and Mars Base studies, Inertial Upper Stage, Advanced Orbital Transfer Vehicle, Get-Away 

Specials, Air Launched Cruise Missile, Minuteman, and Peacekeeper. In 1986, while still working for Boeing, she was accepted 

into graduate school at the University of Washington, where she began working toward her doctorate in analytical chemistry. Her 

doctoral dissertation involved the development of a pressure-indicating coating that uses oxygen quenching of porphyrin 

photoluminescence to provide continuous surface pressure maps of aerodynamic test models in wind tunnels. Her work on 

pressure indicating paints has resulted in two patents.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Dr. Kavandi was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994 and reported to the 

Johnson Space Center in March 1995. Following an initial year of training, she was assigned to the Payloads and Habitability 

Branch where she supported payload integration for the International Space Station. Dr. Kavandi served as a mission specialist on 

STS-91 (June 2-12, 1998), the ninth and final Shuttle-Mir docking mission, concluding the joint U.S./Russian Phase 1 program. 

Following the mission, she worked as a CAPCOM (spacecraft communicator) in NASA’s Mission Control Center. On her second 

mission, she served aboard STS-99 (February 11-22, 2000), the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which mapped more than 47 

million miles of the Earth’s land surface to provide data for a highly accurate three-dimensional topographical map. Dr. Kavandi 

subsequently worked in the Robotics Branch, where she trained on both the shuttle and space station robotic manipulator systems. 

On her most recent mission, she served aboard STS-104/ISS Assembly Flight 7A (July 12-24, 2001) on the tenth mission to the 

International Space Station. The shuttle crew installed the joint airlock “Quest” and conducted joint operations with the 

Expedition-2 crew. Following her last mission, Dr. Kavandi again served as lead for the Payloads and Habitability Branch, then 

as the branch chief for the International Space Station (ISS). She was responsible for the training, operations, safety, and 

habitability of crews onboard the ISS, as well as the hardware and software development and desgn reviews. She was also 

responsible for the scientific payloads that the ISS crews operate on orbit and for coordination between international partners for 

visiting vehicles and associated operations. In 2005, she accepted the post of Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. In 2011, she 

became the Director of Flight Crew Operations (FCOD) at the Johnson Space Center, after serving as the Deputy Director for the 

previous 3 years, responsible for directing the day-to-day activities of the directorate, including the Astronaut Corps and aircraft 

operations at Ellington Field. In August 2014, she became Deputy Director of Human Health and Performance at Johnson Space 

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

October 2019

Biographical Data

 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

 Houston, Texas 77058
Center. In March 2015, Kavandi was named Deputy Center Director at NASA Glenn Research Center, responsible for

planning, organizing and managing the agency level programs and projects assigned to the center. Kavandi was then named 

NASA Glenn’s Center Director in March 2016.

 A three-flight veteran, Dr. Kavandi has logged more than 33 days in space, traveling more than 13.1 million miles in 535 

 Earth orbits. 

 Dr. Kavandi retired from NASA in 2019.