NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL 

USER u S E R 5' A D V S ' ADVISORY GROUP I S O R Y G R O U P 

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NSpC UAG 

FOURTH PUBLIC MEETING 

OCTOBER 21, 2019 
NOTES 
 

 

FOURTH PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA 

October 21, 2019 

Courtyard by Marriott, Washington Downtown / Convention Center Shaw 

Ballroom 

901 L Street NW 

Washington, DC 20001 

1:00-1:15 CALL TO ORDER, OPENING REMARKS, & MEETING GOALS 

James Joseph “JJ” Miller – UAG Executive Secretary 

Admiral James Ellis, Jr., USN, Retired – UAG Chair 

1:15-2:15 EXPERIENCES AND ISSUES OF THE NATIONAL 

POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, AND TIMING ADVISORY 

BOARD 

Dr. Bradford Parkinson – 1st Vice Chair, PNT Advisory Board 

2:15-2:45 EXPLORATION & DISCOVERY SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

General Lester Lyles, USAF, Retired – Subcommittee Chair 

2:45-3:30 OUTREACH & EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF, Retired – Subcommittee Chair 

3:30-3:45 BREAK 

3:45-4:15 SPACE POLICY & INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT 

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

Dr. David Wolf – Subcommittee Chair 

4:15-4:30 NATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

Admiral James Ellis, Jr., USN, Retired – Subcommittee Chair 

4:30-4:45 TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

Colonel Pamela Melroy, USAF, Retired – Subcommittee Chair 

4:45-5:15 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INDUSTRIAL BASE 

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT 

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar and Eric Stallmer – Subcommittee Co-Chairs 

5:15-5:30 PUBLIC COMMENT 

5:30 ADJOURN 
 

-t----- ORGANIZATIONAL CHART 

National Space Council 

Executive Secretary 

Chair of Users’

Advisory Group 

Six 

Subcommittees 

Exploration & 

Discovery 

Outreach & 

Education 

Technology & 

Innovation 

Space Policy & 

International 

Engagement 

National 

Security 

Economic 

Development & 

IndustrIal Base 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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USERS’ ADVISORY GROUP SUBCOMMITTEES

ECONOMIC 

DEVELOPMENT AND 

INDUSTRIAL BASE 

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar, 

Co-Chair 

Eric Stallmer, Co-Chair 

Tory Bruno 

Steve Crisafulli 

Tim Ellis 

Homer Hickam 

Fred Klipsch 

Gwynne Shotwell 

Dr. Bob Smith 

David Thompson 

Stuart Witt 

EXPLORATION AND 

DISCOVERY 

Gen. Lester Lyles 

(USAF, Ret.), Chair 

Col. Buzz Aldrin (USAF, Ret.) 

Tory Bruno 

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar 

Marillyn Hewson 

Homer Hickam 

The Hon. Kay Ivey 

Dennis Muilenburg 

Fatih Ozmen 

Gwynne Shotwell 

Eric Stallmer 

David Thompson 

Pamela Vaughan 

Kathy Warden 

Stuart Witt 

NATIONAL SECURITY 

Adm. James Ellis, Jr. 

(USN, Ret.), Chair 

Tory Bruno 

Dean Cheng 

Tim Ellis 

Marillyn Hewson 

Gen. Lester Lyles (USAF, Ret.) 

Col. Pamela Melroy (USAF, Ret.) 

Dennis Muilenburg 

Fatih Ozmen 

Eric Schmidt 

Harrison Schmitt 

Gwynne Shotwell 

Dr. Bob Smith 

Mandy Vaughn 

Kathy Warden 

Stuart Witt 

OUTREACH AND 

EDUCATION 

Col. Eileen Collins 

(USAF, Ret.), Chair 

Homer Hickam 

Fred Klipsch 

Pamela Vaughan 

Mandy Vaughn 

Stuart Witt 

SPACE POLICY AND 

INTERNATIONAL 

ENGAGEMENT 

Dr. David Wolf, Chair 

Col. Buzz Aldrin (USAF, Ret.) 

Dean Cheng 

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar 

Adm. James Ellis, Jr. (USN, Ret.) 

Homer Hickam 

Fred Klipsch 

Col. Pamela Melroy (USAF, Ret.) 

Dennis Muilenburg 

Eric Stallmer 

TECHNOLOGY AND 

INNOVATION 

Col. Pamela Melroy 

(USAF, Ret.), Chair 

Dean Cheng 

Tim Ellis 

The Hon. Kay Ivey 

Gen. Lester Lyles (USAF, Ret.) 

Fatih Ozmen 

Eric Schmidt 

Harrison Schmitt 

Dr. David Wolf 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

USERS' ADVISORY GROUP + 

EXPERT 

PRESENTER 

Dr. Bradford Parkinson 

Dr. Bradford Parkinson was the Chief Architect for GPS, and led 

the original advocacy for the system in 1973 as an Air Force Colonel. 

Gaining approval, he became the first Director of the GPS Joint Program 

Office and led the original development of spacecraft, Master Control Station and 8 types 

of User Equipment. He continued leadership of the Program through the extensive test 

validation Program, including being the Launch Commander for the first GPS satellite launches. 

This original deployment of GPS demonstrated comfortable margins against all PNT 

(Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) requirements. 

Earlier in his career, he was a key developer of a modernized AC-130 Gunship, introduction of 

which included 160 hours of combat missions. He was an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot 

School. In addition he led the Department of Astronautics and Computer Science at the US Air 

Force Academy. He retired from the US Air Force as a Colonel. 

He was appointed a Professor at Stanford University in 1984, after six years of experience in 

industry. At Stanford University, he led the development of many innovative applications of 

GPS, including: 

• First Commercial aircraft (Boeing 737) blind landing using GPS alone, 

• First fully automatic GPS control of Farm Tractors on a rough field to an accuracy of 2 

inches, 

• Pioneering studies of the FAA’s WAAS, an augmentation to GPS that allows any user to 

achieve accuracies of 2 feet and very high levels of integrity assurance. 

He has been the CEO of two companies, and serves on many boards. He is an editor/author 

of the AIAA Award winning 2 Volumes: “GPS Theory and Applications” and is author or 

coauthor of over 50 technical papers. 

Among his many awards is the Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering, 

considered by some to be the “Engineering Nobel” and the 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Prize 

for Engineering (with three others). 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

USERS' ADVISORY GROUP + 

MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Admiral James Ellis, Jr., USN, Retired 

User Advisory Group Chairman 

James O. Ellis, Jr. retired as President and Chief Executive Officer of the 

Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), located in Atlanta, Georgia, on 

May 18, 2012. INPO, sponsored by the commercial nuclear industry, is an independent, 

nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the highest levels of safety and reliability --

to promote excellence -- in the operation of nuclear electric generating plants. 

In 2004, Admiral Ellis completed a distinguished 39-year Navy career. His final assignment was 

Commander of the United States Strategic Command during a time of challenge and change. In 

this role, he was responsible for the global command and control of United States strategic and 

space forces, reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense. 

A 1969 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Admiral Ellis was designated a Naval aviator in 

1971. His service as a Navy fighter pilot included tours with two carrier-based fighter squadrons, 

and assignment as Commanding Officer of an F/A-18 strike/fighter squadron. In 1991, he 

assumed command of the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. After 

selection to Rear Admiral, in 1996 he served as a carrier battle group commander leading 

contingency response operations in the Taiwan Straits. 

His shore assignments included numerous senior military staff tours; senior command positions 

included Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Commander in Chief, Allied 

Forces, Southern Europe during a time of historic NATO expansion. He led United States and 

NATO forces in combat and humanitarian operations during the 1999 Kosovo crisis. 

Mr. Ellis holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of 

Technology and, in 2005, was inducted into the school’s Engineering Hall of Fame. He 

completed United States Navy Nuclear Power Training and was qualified in the operation and 

maintenance of naval nuclear propulsion plants. He is a graduate of the Navy Test Pilot School 

and the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun). In 2013, Mr. Ellis was elected to the National 

Academy of Engineering. 

In 2009 he completed three years of service as a Presidential Appointee on the President’s

Intelligence Advisory Board and, in 2006, he was a member of the Military Advisory Panel to 

the Iraq Study Group. 

Mr. Ellis currently serves as an Annenberg Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at 

Stanford University. A former Chairman of the Board of the Space Foundation, in 2018 he was 

appointed Chairman of the User’s Advisory Group to the Vice President’s National Space 

Council. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Level 3 Communications and serves on 

the board of directors of the Lockheed Martin Corporation and Dominion Resources, Inc. 
 

NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Colonel Buzz Aldrin, USAF, Retired 

Commander Aldrin grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Buzz graduated 

one year early from Montclair High School and he attended the US Military 

Academy at West Point, graduating third in his class with a BS in mechanical engineering. He 

then joined the Air Force where he flew F86 Sabre Jets in 66 combat missions in Korea, shot 

down two MIG15′s, and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a tour of 

duty in Germany flying F100′s, he earned his Doctorate of Science in Astronautics at MIT and 

wrote his thesis on Manned Orbital Rendezvous. Selected by NASA in 1963 into the third 

group of astronauts, Aldrin was the first with a doctorate and became known as “Dr. 

Rendezvous.”

The docking and rendezvous techniques he devised for spacecraft in Earth and lunar orbit 

became critical to the success of the Gemini and Apollo programs, and are still used today. He 

pioneered underwater training techniques to simulate spacewalking. In 1966 on the Gemini 12 

orbital mission, Buzz performed the world’s first successful spacewalk – extra-vehicular activity 

(EVA), and set a new EVA record of 5 1⁄2 hours. During that mission he also took the first 

‘selfie’ in space. On July 20, 1969, Buzz and Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo 11 

moonwalk, becoming the first two humans to set foot on another world. An estimated 600 

million people – at that time, the world’s largest television audience in history – witnessed this 

unprecedented heroic endeavor. 

Since retiring from NASA and the U.S. Air Force, Col. Aldrin calls himself a Global Statesman 

for Space and has remained a tireless advocate for human space 

exploration. 
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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Salvatore T. “Tory” Bruno

President and CEO, United Launch Alliance 

Salvatore T. “Tory” Bruno is the president and CEO for United Launch 

Alliance (ULA). In this role, Bruno serves as the principal strategic leader 

of the organization and oversees all business management and operations. Prior to joining 

ULA, he served as the vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Strategic and 

Missile Defense Systems. He is a former member of the board of directors of Lockheed 

Martin U.K. Ltd. 

Bruno joined Lockheed Martin in 1984. He previously served as vice president and general 

manager of FBM and ICBM. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the 

California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, California, and has completed 

graduate courses and management programs at Harvard University, Santa Clara University, the 

Wye River Institute, San Jose State University and the Defense Acquisition University. Bruno is 

an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow, a companion of the 

Naval Order of the United States, a member of the Navy League and a former member of the 

Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He served on the National Blue 

Ribbon Panel for Bettering Engineering & Science Education and as Chairman of the Diversity 

Council of Lockheed Martin Space Systems. He is the author of two books that explore the 

organization of the medieval Knights Templar from the perspective of modern business 

management: “Templar Organization: The Management of Warrior Monasticism” and 

“Templar Incorporated.” He is a recipient of the Order of Merit of the Sovereign Military 

Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

USERS' ADVISORY GROUP + 

MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Dean Cheng 

Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation 

Dean Cheng is currently the Research Fellow for Chinese Political and 

Military Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. He is fluent in Chinese, and uses 

Chinese language materials regularly in his work. 

Prior to joining the Heritage Foundation, he was a senior analyst with the China Studies 

Division (previously, Project Asia) at CNA from 2001-2009. He specialized on Chinese military 

issues, and authored studies on Chinese military doctrine, Chinese mobilization concepts, and 

Chinese space capabilities. 

Before joining CNA, he was a senior analyst with Science Applications International 

Corporation (SAIC) from 1996-2001. From 1993-1995, he was an analyst with the US Congress’

Office of Technology Assessment in the International Security and Space Division, where he 

studied the Chinese defense industrial complex. 

He is the author of the book Cyber Dragon: Inside China’s Information Warfare and 

Cyber Operations (NY: Praeger Publishing, 2016), as well as a number of papers and book 

chapters examining various aspects of Chinese security affairs. Recent publications include: 

•“Space Deterrence, the US-Japan Alliance, and Asian Security: A US Perspective,” in 

The US-Japan Alliance and Deterring Gray Zone Coercion in the Maritime, 

Cyber, and Space Domains, with Scott Harold, Yoshiaki Nakagawa, Junichi Fukuda 

(Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017) 

• “Space and the Evolving Chinese Military,” in Crisis Stability in Space, with Bruce 

MacDonald, Admiral Dennis Blair, Karl Mueller, and Victoria Samson (Washington, 

DC: Foreign Policy Institute, 2016). 

•“The PLA’s Wartime Structure,” in The PLA as Organization v. 2.0, ed. by Kevin 

Pollpeter and Kenneth Allen (Merrifield, VA: DGI, 2015). 

•“Chinese Concepts of Space Security,” in Springer Handbook of Space Security, ed. 

by K.U. Schrogl (NY: Springer Publishing, 2015). 

•“Chinese Lessons from the Gulf Wars,” in Chinese Lessons from Other People’s

Wars, ed. by Andrew Scobell, Roy Kamphausen, and David Lai (Carlisle, PA: Strategic 

Studies Institute, 2011). 

• “Chinese Views on Deterrence,” Joint Force Quarterly (#60, January 2011) 

He has spoken at the USSTRATCOM Deterrence Symposium, the USSTRATCOM Space and 

Cyber Symposium, and the National Space Symposium. He has also lectured at the US National 

Defense University, George Washington University, and MIT. He has testified before Congress 

on various Chinese security issues. 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

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Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF, Retired 

Collins graduated in 1979 from Air Force Undergraduate Pilot 

Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, where she was a T-38 instructor 

pilot until 1982. She was a C-141 aircraft commander and instructor pilot 

and was assigned to the U.S. Air Force Academy as an assistant professor in mathematics and a 

T-41 instructor pilot. She was selected for the astronaut program while attending the Air Force 

Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California, from which she graduated in 1990. 

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Collins became an astronaut in July 1991. Initially assigned 

to Orbiter engineering support, Collins has also served on the astronaut support team 

responsible for Orbiter prelaunch checkout, final launch configuration, crew ingress/egress, 

landing/recovery, worked in Mission Control as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), served 

as the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems Branch Chief, Chief Information Officer, Shuttle 

Branch Chief, and Astronaut Safety Branch Chief. Collins served as pilot on STS-63 (February 

3-11, 1995) and STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997), and was the commander on STS-93 (July 22-27, 

1999) and STS-114 (July 26 to August 9, 2005). A veteran of four space flights, Collins has 

logged over 872 hours in space. Collins retired from NASA in May 2006. 

Collins received an associate in science degree in mathematics/science from Corning 

Community College in 1976; a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics from 

Syracuse University in 1978; a master of science degree in operations research from Stanford 

University in 1986; and a master of arts degree in space systems management from Webster 

University in 1989. Collins is currently retired, and serves on several boards and advisory panels, 

including the National Academies’ Aerospace Science and Engineering Board and the 

Astronaut Memorial Foundation. 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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Steve Crisafulli 

Former Speaker, Florida House of Representatives 

Speaker Crisafulli is a former Republican member of the Florida House 

of representatives, representing District 51 from 2008 to 2016. He served as 

Speaker of the House and was Majority Leader in 2014. 

Crisafulli did not seek re-election to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016 because of 

term-limits. Crisafulli served as Supervisor of Brevard County Soil and Water Conservation 

from 1998 to 2002. 
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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Mary Lynne Dittmar, Ph.D. 

President and CEO, Coalition for Deep Space 

Exploration 

President and CEO, Dittmar Associates 

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar is President and CEO of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, 

an industry trade group supporting human exploration, science, commerce, and American 

leadership in space. Under her leadership the Coalition has grown from 5 companies to more 

than 70 over the past four years and is a recognized source for policy, technical and business 

information in the aerospace and defense sector. 

Earlier in her career Dr. Dittmar managed the mission operations group for The Boeing 

Company on the International Space Station Program. Later, she acted as a special advisor to 

the NASA Astronaut Office before her appointment as Boeing Chief Scientist for Commercial 

Utilization of the ISS. More recently she was Senior Policy Advisor to International Space 

Station National Laboratory. She has also served as a senior advisor to NASA, the DoD, and 

the FAA. 

Mary Lynne is a Fellow of the National Research Society and an Associate Fellow of the 

American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics. From 2012-2014 she served as a member 

of the National Research Council Committee on Human Spaceflight, and is beginning her third 

term as a member of the Executive Committee of the Space Studies Board of the National 

Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. In June of 2018 she was appointed as a 

member of the Users’ Advisory Group of the National Space Council, and in October of 2018 

also was appointed to the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee for the 

Department of Transportation/FAA. Dr. Dittmar resides in Washington, D.C. 
 

NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Tim Ellis 

Cofounder and CEO, Relativity Space 

Tim is cofounder and CEO of Relativity Space, the first autonomous 

rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations. Disrupting 

60 years of global aerospace manufacturing, Relativity is developing the first and only aerospace 

platform to integrate machine learning, software, and robotics with metal 3D printing 

technology to build and launch rockets and other aerospace products in days instead of years, 

with the long-term goal of building the future of humanity in space. Since cofounding 

Relativity, Tim has helped change the future of space exploration by expanding the possibilities 

of additive metal manufacturing. Under his leadership, Relativity developed the largest robotic 

metal 3D printer in the world and tested its entirely 3D printed Aeon rocket engine over 190 

times, on track to launching Relativity’s Terran 1, the world’s first 3D printed launch vehicle. 

Terran 1 has won launch contracts to support the Telesat LEO program, Spaceflight Industries, 

and Mu Space. 

Tim played a leading role in closing hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with the U.S. 

Government, including securing the first-ever US Air Force launch site award to a venturebacked company at Cape Canaveral, and exclusive 20-year agreements for multiple test sites and 

a 220,000-square-foot factory at NASA Stennis Space Center. 

Prior to Relativity, Tim was responsible for bringing metal 3D printing in-house at Blue Origin 

and served as a Propulsion Development Engineer on Crew Capsule RCS thrusters, BE-4, and 

New Glenn. He holds an MS and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from USC, where he played a 

leadership role in launching the first student-designed and built rocket into space together with 

Relativity cofounder and CTO Jordan Noone. 

Tim has testified to the U.S. Senate on commercial space policy and is the youngest member on 

the National Space Council Users Advisory Group by nearly two decades, directly advising the 

United States White House on all space policy. He also serves on the World Economic Forum 

as a Technology Pioneer, and has been honored as an MIT 35 Innovators Under 35 and “30 

Under 30” from Business Insider, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine. Relativity is backed by Playground 

Global, Social Capital, Y Combinator, Mark Cuban, USC, and Stanford. 
 

NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Marillyn A. Hewson 

Chairman, President, and CEO of Lockheed Martin 

Corporation 

Ms. Hewson is Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation. 

Ms. Hewson joined Lockheed Martin more than 30 years ago as an industrial engineer. During 

her career she has held several operational leadership positions, including President of 

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration; Executive Vice President of Global Sustainment for 

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics; President and General Manager of Kelly Aviation Center, L.P., 

an affiliate of Lockheed Martin; and President of Lockheed Martin Logistics Services. She has 

also served in key corporate executive roles, including Senior Vice President of Corporate 

Shared Services; Vice President of Global Supply Chain Management; and Vice President of 

Corporate Internal Audit. 

Ms. Hewson has served on numerous boards and currently sits on the Board of Directors of 

DowDuPont, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, the Board of Governors of the 

USO, and the Board of Directors of Catalyst. She is a member of The University of Alabama’s

President’s Cabinet and also serves on the Board of Visitors of the Culverhouse College of 

Commerce and Business Administration. In 2017, Fortune magazine identified Ms. Hewson as 

No. 3 on the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business.” She has also been recognized as a Top 10 

“Businessperson of the Year” by Fortune, as one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”

by Forbes, and as one of the “Bloomberg 50” – the leaders who defined 2017. 

Born in Junction City, Kansas, Ms. Hewson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business 

administration and her Master of Arts degree in economics from the University of Alabama. 

She also attended the Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School executive 

development programs. 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

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Homer H. Hickam, Jr. 

Mr. Hickam graduated from Big Creek High School in 1960 and from 

the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) in 1964 with a BS degree 

in Industrial Engineering. A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Hickam served as a First 

Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1967-1968 where he won the Army 

Commendation and Bronze Star medals. He served six years on active duty, leaving the service 

with the rank of Captain. 

Hickam has been a writer since 1969 after his return from Vietnam. His latest work, published 

in October, 2015, is the critically acclaimed novel Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story 

of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator. Mr. Hickam was also employed as an engineer for the U.S. 

Army Missile Command from 1971 to 1981 assigned to Huntsville, Alabama, and Germany. He 

began employment with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Marshall Space 

Flight Center in 1981 as an aerospace engineer. During his NASA career, Mr. Hickam worked in 

spacecraft design and crew training. His specialties at NASA included training astronauts on 

science payloads, and extravehicular activities (EVA). He also trained astronaut crews for many 

Spacelab and Space Shuttle missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope deployment 

mission, the first two Hubble repair missions, Spacelab-J (the first Japanese astronauts), and the 

Solar Max repair mission. Mr. Hickam is currently the board chair of the U. S. Space & Rocket 

Center (Space Camp) in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Prior to his retirement in 1998, Mr. Hickam was the Payload Training Manager for the 

International Space Station Program. In 1984, Mr. Hickam was presented with Alabama’s

Distinguished Service Award for heroism shown during a rescue effort of the crew and 

passengers of a sunken paddleboat in the Tennessee River. Because of this award, Mr. Hickam 

was honored in 1996 by the United States Olympic Committee to carry the Olympic Torch 

through Huntsville, Alabama, on its way to Atlanta. Mr. Hickam is married to Linda Terry 

Hickam, an artist and his first editor and assistant. 
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The Honorable Kay Ivey 

Governor of Alabama 

Governor Ivey is the 54th and current Governor of Alabama. She was 

sworn into office on April 10, 2017, following the resignation of Gov. Robert J. 

Bentley (R). She previously served as lieutenant governor from January 2011 to April 2017. She 

was elected to the position in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Ivey was the first Republican in the 

state's history to serve two consecutive terms in the lieutenant governor's office. 

Initially a candidate for governor in 2010, Ivey switched to the lieutenant governor's race on 

March 31, 2010. She went on to defeat incumbent Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) by a slim margin in the 

general election on November 2, 2010. The victory made Ivey the first Republican woman to be 

elected lieutenant governor in the state's history. Ivey was first elected to statewide office in 

2002, defeating Democratic opponent Stephen Foster Black in the general election to win 

election as state treasurer of Alabama. 

She served two terms in this office before becoming lieutenant governor in 2011. Prior to 

entering public service, Ivey was director of government affairs for the Alabama Commission 

on Higher Education from 1985 to 1998, assistant director of the Alabama Development 

Office from 1982 to 1985 and a reading clerk for the Alabama House of Representatives from 

1980 to 1982. Ivey was also assistant vice president of Merchants National Bank/Regions Bank 

from 1970 to 1979. Ivey was raised in Camden, Alabama. She attended Auburn University, 

Duke University's Governor's Center for Public Policy, Alabama Banking School and the 

University of Colorado School of Banking. Her professional experience includes working as a 

high school teacher, a bank officer, and as assistant director of the Alabama Development 

Office. 
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Fred Klipsch 

Chairman and CEO, Klipsch Audio Technologies, 

Retired 

Mr. Klipsch has spent his life building successes in the business world and is 

now working to increase success in the classroom. He was educated in the public school system 

from grade school through graduate school. Mr. Klipsch earned a bachelor’s degree from 

Purdue University in 1964 and a MBA degree from California State University at Long Beach in 

1968. In 2007, Mr. Klipsch was awarded an honorary PhD in Technology from Purdue 

University. He also served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1964 to 1968. 

Since 1979, Mr. Klipsch has acquired multiple healthcare operations and development 

companies including hospitals, medical buildings, retirement centers, nursing homes and 

assisted living facilities. From 1989 to 1996 Mr. Klipsch was Chairman and majority owner of 

national Guest Homes (NGH), a developer and operator of assisted living centers across the 

southern part of the U.S.A. In 1996 the company was sold to Marriott International (NASDQ: 

MAR). 

From 1989 to 2002, Mr. Klipsch was Chairman and majority owner of Hospital Affiliates 

Development Corporation (HADC), a medical properties development company active in the 

United States and Europe. In 2002, HADC was contributed to Windrose Medical Properties 

Trust (NYSE: WRS) as a wholly owned subsidiary .Mr. Klipsch served as Chairman and CEO 

of WRS from its formation and IPO in 2002 until merging with Healthcare REIT (NYSE: 

HCN) in 2006. During that 4-year cycle WRS acquired, developed, or had under contract 

approximately $1billion in assets. 

Also in 1989, Mr. Klipsch and his wife Judy purchased Klipsch Group Inc., a small premium 

boutique domestic loudspeaker company owned by his second cousin, Paul Klipsch, located in 

Hope, Arkansas. Over the next 22 years Mr. Klipsch, as Chairman and CEO, and majority 

owner, expanded its product offerings to include only high performance products for listening 

to music and movies, eventually becoming the number one high performance line sold in the 

United States and a leader in the global market. In 2005, Klipsch Group, Inc., expanded 

globally, opening offices in Paris and Shanghai. Klipsch Group was sold to VOXX International 

(NYSE: VOXX) in 2011. Since the sale of Klipsch Group, Mr. Klipsch has focused his business 

activities through Klipsch Strategic Partners, LLC. 
NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL+ + 

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MEMBER 

BIOGRAPHIES 

General Lester Lyles, USAF, Retired 

Retired from the United States Air Force after a distinguished 35 year 

career, most recently as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Prior to that he served as Air Force 

Vice Chief of Staff and Chief Technology Officer, and Director of the Ballistic 

Missile Defense Organization at the Department of Defense. 

He is a senior executive with over 26 years experience running large, high-technology 

organizations involved in aeronautical and astronautical research, development, acquisition and 

logistics. Gen. Lyles is a director of General Dynamics Corp., Board of Battelle, and KBR 

Corp., previously serving on the board of directors for Precision Castparts Corp. He is 

Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council, a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory 

Board, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineers in 2011. Gen. Lyles also 

previously Chaired the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Academy of 

Engineering. 

Lyles also served as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in the White 

House, the Defense Science Board, and the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) in the 

State Department. His awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished 

Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal and Legion of Merit. Lyles received a bachelor’s

degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University. He received a master’s degree in 

mechanical/nuclear engineering, as well as honorary doctors of laws, from New Mexico State 

University and Urbana University. 
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Colonel Pamela Melroy, USAF, Retired 

Col Melroy was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officers’

Training Corps (ROTC) program in 1983. After completing a Master’s

degree, she attended undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in 

Lubbock, Texas, and graduated in 1985. Melroy flew the KC-10 for six years at Barksdale Air 

Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, as a copilot, aircraft commander and instructor pilot. In 

June 1991, she attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. 

Upon her graduation, she was assigned to the C-17 Combined Test Force, where she served as a 

test pilot until her selection for the Astronaut Program. Colonel Melroy retired from the Air 

Force in February 2007. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, 

Colonel Melroy completed a year of training and evaluation and was qualified for flight 

assignment as a shuttle pilot. Initially assigned to astronaut support duties for launch and 

landing, she also worked advanced projects for the Astronaut Office. Colonel Melroy served on 

the Columbia Reconstruction Team as the lead for the crew module and served as Deputy 

Project Manager for the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Team. 

In her final position, she served as Branch Chief for the Orion branch of the Astronaut Office. 

Colonel Melroy served as pilot on two flights (STS-92 in 2000 and STS-112 in 2002) and was 

the mission commander on STS-120 in 2007, making her one of only two women who 

commanded the space shuttle. 

She has logged more than 924 hours (more than 38 days) in space. Colonel Melroy left the 

agency in August 2009 and currently serves as Deputy Director, Tactical Technology Office at 

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She graduated from Bishop 

Kearney High School, Rochester, New York, in 1979. Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and 

Astronomy from Wellesley College, 1983. Master of Science degree in Earth and Planetary 

Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984. 
 

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Dennis A. Muilenburg 

President, and CEO, The Boeing Co. 

Chairman, Aerospace Industries Association 

Chairman, President, and CEO, Boeing HorizonX 

President, The Boeing Co. (Illinois) 

Mr. Muilenburg is President & Chief Executive Officer at The Boeing Co., Chairman, President 

and Chief Executive Officer at Boeing HorizonX and President at The Boeing Co. (Illinois). He 

is on the Board of Directors of Caterpillar Inc., the U.S.-China Business Council, the 

Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, Northwestern University and FIRST (For 

Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) and the Business Roundtable, an 

association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies. He is past chairman of the 

Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) board of governors and a current AIA executive 

committee member. He also serves on the board of trustees for the National World War II 

Museum. He is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

(AIAA), a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a member of the National Academy of 

Engineering (NAE). Mr. Muilenburg was previously employed as President & Chief Executive 

Officer by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, President by Boeing Ventures, and Executive Vice 

President by Boeing Capital Corp. He received his under graduate degree from Iowa State 

University and a graduate degree from the University of Washington. 
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Fatih Ozmen 

CEO and Owner, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) 

Ozmen is CEO of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global 

aerospace and national security leader based in Sparks, Nevada. SNC is solely 

owned by Fatih and his wife, Eren Ozmen, who is SNC’s Chairwoman and President. Living a 

true American Dream story, the Ozmens came to the US separately as graduate students. They 

connected in Reno and after several years at SNC, where Fatih began his career as an intern and 

Eren served as controller, they acquired company and have since grown it into the top femaleowned defense contractor in the U.S. Best known publicly for SNC’s Dream Chaser® 

spacecraft, which will service the International Space Station under contract with NASA in 

2021, SNC has become a trusted partner to civil, commercial, and national security customers 

worldwide. Fatih’s commitment to advancing American leadership in technological innovation, 

along with his pay-it-forward spirit, inspire future generations and the consistent growth of 

American jobs. 
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Eric Schmidt 

Technical Advisor, Alphabet Inc. 

Eric Schmidt is Technical Advisor to Alphabet Inc., holding company of 

Google Inc, where he advises its leaders on technology, business and policy issues. 

Eric was Executive Chairman of Alphabet from 2015-2018, and of Google from 2011-2015. 

From 2001-2011, Eric served as Google’s Chief Executive Officer, overseeing the company’s

technical and business strategy alongside founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Under his 

leadership, Google dramatically scaled its infrastructure and diversified its product offerings 

while maintaining a strong culture of innovation, growing from a Silicon Valley startup to a 

global leader in technology. 

Prior to joining Google, Eric was the chairman and CEO of Novell and chief technology 

officer at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Previously, he served on the research staff at Xerox Palo Alto 

Research Center (PARC), Bell Laboratories and Zilog. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical 

engineering from Princeton University as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer 

science from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Eric was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and inducted into the 

American Academy of Arts and Sciences as a fellow in 2007. Since 2008, he has been a trustee 

of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Since 2012, Eric has been on the 

board of the Broad Institute and the Mayo Clinic. Eric was a member of the President’s

Council of Advisors on Science 2009-2017. In 2013, Eric and Jared Cohen co-authored The 

New York Times bestselling book, The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our 

Lives. In September 2014, Eric published his second New York Times bestseller, How Google 

Works, which he and Jonathan Rosenberg co-authored with Alan Eagle. In April 2019, Eric 

published his third New York Times bestseller, Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of 

Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell, which he co-authored with Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle. 

Eric became the Chairman of the Department of Defense’s Innovation Board in 2016 and was 

awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in January of 2017 

by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. He is Chairman of the US National Security 

Commission for Artificial Intelligence. He is a member of NASA’s National Space Council User 

Advisory Group which is chaired by the Vice President. Eric is an MIT Visiting Innovation 

Fellow, member of the Advisory Board for MIT IQ, member of the MIT Commission on the 

Work of the Future, member of the MIT CEO Advisory Board, and member of the MIT 

Schwarzman College of Computing Advisory Council. Eric is founder of Schmidt Futures 

which helps exceptional people do more for others by applying science and technology 

thoughtfully and working together across fields. 
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Harrison H. Schmitt 

Harrison Hagan Schmitt was born in New Mexico and grew up in the 

American West. He earned a Bachelors of Science from Caltech and a 

PhD in geology from Harvard, based on work in Norway as a Fulbright Scholar 

and a National Science Foundation Post-Doctorate Fellow. Schmitt is privileged to 

have received numerous honorary degrees from United States and Canadian universities. 

Schmitt joined the United States Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Branch in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 

1964, leading the development of early lunar field geological methods under contract to NASA. 

Selected by NASA as a Scientist-Astronaut in 1965, he earned Air Force T-38 jet pilot wings in 

1966 and Navy H-13 helicopter wings in 1967. 

After supporting the operational preparations and geological training for Apollo missions to the 

Moon, including being the Backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 15, Schmitt flew in space as 

Apollo 17’s Lunar Module Pilot. He landed in the Moon’s Valley of Taurus-Littrow on December 

11, 1972. He is the only scientist and last of 12 men to step on the Moon, Schmitt collected, 

documented and returned 240 pounds of lunar samples. The extensive field context he provided 

for those lunar samples is unique among the Apollo missions. He continues to integrate the results 

of 50 years of ongoing lunar research by his colleagues with his field observations. 

Elected to the United States Senate from New Mexico in 1976, Schmitt worked on a wide variety 

of national legislation and New Mexico constituent services. He served on the Commerce, 

Appropriations, Banking, Small Business, and Intelligence Committees and chaired the Commerce 

Subcommittee on Space and Technology and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and 

Human Services. 

Senator Schmitt later served on President Reagan’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Army 

Science Board, and President H. W. Bush’s Ethics Commission. From 2005 to 2008, he chaired the 

NASA Advisory Council. Schmitt was a Director of Orbital Sciences Corporation and Orbital 

ATK for 35 years, serving until 2018 when Northrop Grumman acquired the company. He also 

has been a director of several corporations in the banking, technology, mining, and medical fields. 

As an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Schmitt taught “Resources

from Space” and remains an Associate Fellow in the university’s Department of Engineering, 

working with faculty members on the commercialization of fusion power. Schmitt is currently a 

member of the User Advisory Group of the National Space Council and of the Science Advisory 

Board to the Blue Moon project of Blue Origin. He has authored “Return to the Moon; 

Exploration, Enterprise and Energy in the Human Exploration of Space” and has published 

numerous scientific and public policy papers. Most recently, Schmitt and his co-authors published 

“Revisiting the field geology of Taurus-Littrow” in Icarus (2017). Schmitt’s account of the Apollo 

17 Mission to the Moon is currently being published online as “Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man.”

. 
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Gwynne Shotwell 

President and COO, Space Exploration Technologies 

Corp. (SpaceX) 

As President and COO of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell is responsible for 

day-to-day operations and managing all customer and strategic relations to support company 

growth. She joined SpaceX in 2002 as Vice President of Business Development and built the 

Falcon vehicle family manifest to more than 100 launches, representing more than $10 billion in 

business. Shotwell is a member of the SpaceX Board of Directors. 

Prior to joining SpaceX, Shotwell spent more than 10 years at the Aerospace Corporation, 

holding positions in Space Systems Engineering, Technology and Project Management. She was 

promoted to the role of Chief Engineer of an MLV-class satellite program, managed a 

landmark study for the Federal Aviation Administration on commercial space transportation, 

and completed an extensive analysis of space policy for NASA’s future investment in space 

transportation. 

In addition to being named the 2018 Satellite Executive of the Year, Shotwell was awarded the 

AIAA Goddard Astronautics Awards as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

Ralph Coats Roe Medal. Fortune Magazine placed Shotwell at #42 on their list of the World’s

50 Greatest Leaders in 2018 and Forbes named her #70 on their list of Power Women in 2017. 

In 2014, Shotwell was appointed to the United States Export Import Bank's Advisory 

Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Management Advisory Council. Shotwell 

was elected to the honorable grade of Fellow with the American Institute of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics. 

Through leadership in both corporate and external science, technology, engineering and math 

(STEM) programs, Shotwell has helped raise over $1.8 million for STEM programs reaching 

thousands of students nationwide. 

Shotwell received, with honors, her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern 

University in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics, and serves on their Board. She 

has authored dozens of papers on a variety of space related subjects. 
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Bob Smith 

CEO, Blue Origin 

Bob Smith is the Chief Executive Officer of Blue Origin, where he 

manages a team that is building reusable launch vehicles, modern powerful 

rocket engines and all the capabilities that will enable millions of people to live and work in 

space. 

Bob came to Blue Origin from Honeywell Aerospace. At Honeywell, he was the Vice President 

of Advanced Technology, the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering & 

Technology and, finally, the President of the Mechanical Systems & Components business. In 

those roles, his responsibilities spanned basic research, major system developments, production 

and business operations. 

Bob also served as Executive Director of the Space Shuttle Upgrades Development Program 

for United Space Alliance where he managed a variety of projects that ranged from very large 

efforts, such as major modifications that replaced the Orbiter’s auxiliary power and data 

handling systems, to smaller efforts, such as the development of new Shuttle tiles and landing 

systems. Bob also worked at The Aerospace Corporation where he served as a guidance, 

navigation & control analyst and a program manager for a number of Department of Defense 

and national security programs. Bob eventually became the leader for Aerospace’s NASA 

business and the site manager for Aerospace’s Houston operations. 

Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M, a Master 

of Science degree in engineering/applied mathematics from Brown University, a doctorate from 

the University of Texas in aerospace engineering and a business degree from MIT’s Sloan 

School of Management. 
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Eric Stallmer 

President, Commercial Spaceflight Federation 

President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. The CSF is the largest 

trade organization representing over 75 organizations, dedicated to promoting 

the development of commercial spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best 

practices and expertise throughout the industry. 

As CSF President, Stallmer develops the strategy, plans and communications for the 

organization and works closely with CSF member companies to advocate for the commercial 

space industry. Prior to joining CSF, Stallmer served as the Vice President of Government 

Relations at Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI). Stallmer came to AGI from The Space 

Transportation Association (STA), a nonprofit, industry trade organization providing 

government representation to companies with a vested interest in the U.S space launch industry. 

Prior to that, Stallmer worked on Capitol Hill in the office of then Congressman Tom Coburn. 

For over two decades, Stallmer has served as an Officer in the United States Army and Army 

Reserves. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service while engaged in 

combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is currently assigned to the Pentagon in 

the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff Army for Logistics, G-4. Stallmer earned a Masters of 

Arts Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts 

Degree in Political Science and History from Mount Saint Mary College. He and his wife Amy 

live in McLean, Virginia with their three children, Charlie, Billy and Catherine. 
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David Thompson 

Former President and CEO, Orbital ATK 

Mr. Thompson is the Hunsaker Visiting Professor of 

Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 

the 2019-2020 year. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Orbital ATK, a world 

leader in aerospace and defense technologies, from its founding in 1982 until its sale to 

Northrop Grumman in 2018. With annual revenues in excess of $5.5 billion and a workforce of 

more than 14,000 people, the company designed, built and operated space, defense and 

aviation-related systems for customers around the globe. Under his leadership, Orbital ATK 

carried out more than 1,000 rocket launches and satellite missions over a 36-year period. During 

that time, the company grew from a start-up to a Fortune 500-class, NYSE-listed public 

company with an enterprise value in excess of $9 billion. 

Mr. Thompson co-founded one of Orbital ATK’s main predecessors, Orbital Sciences 

Corporation, in 1982 and served as the company’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive 

Officer. Before co-founding Orbital, Mr. Thompson was assistant to the president of Hughes 

Aircraft Company’s Missile Systems Group and was a project manager and engineer at NASA’s

Marshall Space Flight Center. As a college student, he worked on the first Mars landing missions 

at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and on Space Shuttle projects at NASA’s Langley 

Research Center and Johnson Space Center. He received a B.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics 

from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Aeronautics from California Institute of 

Technology (Caltech), and a MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves as a member of 

the Boards of Trustees of Caltech, the Aerospace Corporation, the Carnegie Institution for 

Science, and the Hertz Foundation as well as the Princeton University Astronomy Advisory 

Council. 
 

 

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Pamela Vaughan 

STEM Integration Specialist for the Arkansas 

Department of Education 

Pam Vaughan serves as STEM Integration Specialist for the Arkansas 

Department of Education. Her passion and enthusiasm for space education has been reflected 

in her classrooms and in the districts where she was employed throughout her career. From 

leading her district with a student competition for the opportunity to test an experiment on the 

International Space Station in 2017 to a student experiment flown on the space shuttle in 1984, 

her love for STEM education and the space program has been shared with students, 

community, state and the nation. In 2002, Pam was recognized as the National Space Club 

Space Educator of the Year and as a Cornell CONTOUR Comet Challenge National StudentTeacher Team Winner. In 2003, the Arkansas Education Association recognized her as the 

Human Relations Award Winner based on her efforts in promoting STEM education in 

underserved areas. Her students’ successes earned acknowledgement through a Disney Teacher 

Award in 2004 and selection as a member of the USA Today All-Star Teaching Team in 2005, 

the only Arkansas educator recognized by both of these groups. 

Vaughan and her students have received recognition for a variety of NASA educational 

programs. Through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, she spread her 

enthusiasm for space education with students in Japan by sharing her students’ work as 

Phoenix Mars Lander Student Interns. As an active member of the National Science Teachers 

Association, she served on their Aerospace Advisory Board and the national awards committee. 

Pam was a contributing author Today I Made a Difference, a Collection of Inspirational Stories 

from America’s Top Educators with a forward by Art Linkletter. In 2019, Vaughan was 

honored as a Henderson State University Distinguished Alumni. Pam and her husband, Gary, 

reside in Heber Springs, Arkansas. 
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Mandy Vaughn 

President, VOX Space 

Mandy Vaughn is the President of VOX Space. Mandy originally joined 

Virgin Orbit, VOX Space’s parent company, in 2015. As Senior Director of 

Business Development and Mission Management, she supported business development on the 

LauncherOne program for both government and commercial customers, and served as mission 

manager for customers including OneWeb and NASA, in addition to spearheading the creation 

and registration of VOX Space. 

Prior to joining Virgin Orbit, Mandy was with General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Space and 

Intelligence Systems Directorate, where she was responsible for the space control and space 

protection investment portfolios and analog-to-digital transitions for a variety of SIGINT 

payload families. She successfully initiated development programs for the next-generation 

space-based GPS receiver and managed the internal investment of GPS payload development 

efforts. 

Prior to joining General Dynamics, she was a developmental engineer and program manager in 

the Air Force and a Director with Kinsey Technical Services. She primarily supported programs 

in the Space Superiority Systems Directorate (SMC/SY) at Los Angeles AFB, CA and earlier the 

ICBM system program office at Hill AFB, UT. In the Space Superiority mission area, she was 

the ground segment lead and chief engineer on the Space-Based Space Surveillance program, 

and then supported a variety of space and ground-based programs for the Directorate. In that 

role, she supported a multiple Space Situational Awareness and command and control programs 

supporting integration of requirements and demonstrations between the DoD and the 

intelligence community. She supported the NRO AS&T and DIA Directorate of Science and 

Technology in a variety of collection campaigns that spanned various collection system 

phenomena to demonstrate new systems and operational concepts for critical space operations. 

Mandy has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics, both 

from MIT. 
 

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Kathy Warden 

Chairman, CEO, and President, Northrop Grumman 

Corporation 

Kathy Warden is chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop 

Grumman Corporation. She was elected chairman of the Northrop Grumman Board of 

Directors on August 1, 2019, and has served as CEO and president since January 1, 2019. She 

was elected to the company’s board of directors in 2018. 

Prior to becoming CEO and president, Warden served as president and chief operating officer, 

responsible for the operational management of the company’s four sectors as well as its 

enterprise services organization. Her role encompassed all aspects of the company’s operations, 

including leading engagement with the senior customer community and partners around the 

globe. She also led the integration of Northrop Grumman’s Innovation Systems sector. 

Previously, she served as corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman’s

Mission Systems and Information Systems sectors. 

Warden has extensive experience in operational leadership and business development in 

government and commercial markets. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2008, Warden 

held leadership roles at General Dynamics and the Veridian Corporation, she was a principal in 

a venture internet firm, and she spent nearly a decade with the General Electric Company 

working in commercial industries. 

Warden earned a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University and a master’s degree in 

business administration from George Washington University. Currently, she serves as the chair 

of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and is a member of the 

Catalyst Board of Directors and the James Madison University Board of Visitors. 
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Stuart Witt 

Founder and Owner, S.O. Witt & Associates, LLC 

Former General Manager and CEO, Mojave Air and 

Space Port. 

As General Manager, East Kern Airport District (California), Stuart Witt was the force behind 

the Mojave Desert's primacy in the space business, as home to XCOR Aerospace, Scaled 

Composites, Rotary Rocket, Orbital Sciences L1011 Stargazer, Masten Space, Air Launch and 

Protoflight, Lunar Tech, Rocket Propulsion, and other space-related start-ups. Witt has been 

directing the expansion efforts of the Mojave Air and Space Port since 2002, dealing with 

everything from road and water system upgrades to runway, taxiway, lighting, communication, 

security and ground and air route flow with FAA regulators, commercial builders and state and 

county planners. 

Born in Bakersfield, CA, and raised at Scodie Ranch in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, 

Witt is a long-time aviator. He obtained his private pilot's license in 1971, graduated from Cal 

State Northridge in 1974, from the Naval Aviation Schools Command in 1976 and from the 

Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN training) in 1980; he is also a 1996 graduate of the 

University of Maryland's Center for Creative Leadership. His military career took him to sea as 

an F-14 Tomcat pilot on based on U.S.S. John F. Kennedy and as an FA-18A project pilot at the 

Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, CA. After the Navy, Witt joined what was then 

Westinghouse Electric Corporation (now NGC) for nearly nine years as an engineering test pilot 

on the B-1B, F-16C and F-23. In 1993 he joined Computer Technology Associates, where he 

managed a $100-million-range contract and was later promoted to EVP. 
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Dr. David Wolf 

28-year NASA veteran and astronaut, has spent 168 days in space and 

conducted seven spacewalks over four separate missions including Space 

Shuttles Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavor as well as the International 

Space Station, Russian Space Station MIR, and Spacelab. 

Prior to being selected as an astronaut, he led teams producing medical research 

instrumentation for spaceflight, including novel state of the art technology for threedimensional tissue engineering. Wolf's initial work at NASA stemmed directly from his research 

while at Purdue in medical ultrasonics. A medical doctor, electrical engineer, and inventor, Wolf 

has been awarded 17 U.S. patents, received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement 

Medal, and was named the NASA Inventor of the Year. 
 

“THE PRESIDENT HAS DIRECTED US TO RELAUNCH THE NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL’S

ADVISORY GROUP TO FOSTER CLOSE 

COORDINATION, COOPERATION, AND 

TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION. 

THIS GROUP WILL BRING TOGETHER A BROAD 

RANGE OF TRULY EXCEPTIONAL AMERICANS —

MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE COMMITTED TO 

ADVANCING AND RENEWING AMERICAN 

LEADERSHIP IN SPACE.”

-Vice President Mike Pence 

October 5, 2017