Administrator of NASA

The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within United States space policy,^[1] and is assisted by a deputy administrator.

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Seal Constituent part of the administrator's standard
Incumbent Janet Petro Acting  since January 20, 2025
Reports to	President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Nominator	President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Constituting instrument	51 U.S.C. § 20111
Inaugural holder	Thomas Keith Glennan
Salary	$221,900 annually (Executive Schedule II)
Website	Janet Petro, NASA

The administrator is appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and thereafter serves at the president's pleasure. Janet Petro has served as the acting administrator since January 20, 2025. Entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman has been the nominee for NASA administrator since December 4, 2024.

Duties and responsibilities

The administrator serves as NASA's chief executive officer, accountable to the President for the leadership necessary to achieve the agency's mission. This leadership requires articulating the agency's vision, setting its programmatic and budget priorities and internal policies, and assessing Agency performance.^[2]

History

The first administrator of NASA was Dr. T. Keith Glennan; during his term he brought together the disparate projects in space development research in the US.^[3] Daniel Goldin held the post for the longest term (nearly 10 years), and is best known for pioneering the "faster, better, cheaper" approach to space programs.^[4] The only person to hold the post twice is James C. Fletcher, who returned to NASA following the Challenger disaster.^[5]

The current administrator is KSC director Janet Petro, who was designated by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 as acting Administrator.^[6] She replaced Bill Nelson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden on March 19, 2021,^[7] confirmed by the Senate on April 29, and officially sworn in on May 3.^[8] The current nominee for administrator is entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on December 4, 2024.^[9]

List of administrators

Status

  Denotes an acting administrator of NASA

  Denotes a presumptive nominee

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Days served	President serving under
1		T. Keith Glennan	August 19, 1958	January 20, 1961	885		Dwight D. Eisenhower
-		Hugh Dryden	January 11, 1961	February 14, 1961	24		John F. Kennedy
2		James E. Webb	February 14, 1961	October 7, 1968	1,035
					1,781 (2,816 total)		Lyndon B. Johnson
3		Thomas O. Paine	October 8, 1968	March 21, 1969	104
					60		Richard Nixon
			March 21, 1969	September 15, 1970	543 (707 total)
-		George Low	September 16, 1970	April 26, 1971	222
4		James C. Fletcher	April 27, 1971	May 1, 1977	1,200
					895		Gerald Ford
					101 (3258 total)		Jimmy Carter
-		Alan M. Lovelace	May 2, 1977	June 20, 1977	49
5		Robert A. Frosch	June 21, 1977	January 20, 1981	1,309
-		Alan M. Lovelace	January 21, 1981	July 10, 1981	171 (220 total)		Ronald Reagan
6		James M. Beggs	July 10, 1981	December 4, 1985	1,608
-		William Graham	December 4, 1985	May 11, 1986	158
7		James C. Fletcher	May 12, 1986	April 8, 1989	984
					78 (3258 total)		George H. W. Bush
-		Dale D. Myers	April 8, 1989	May 13, 1989	35
8		Richard H. Truly	May 14, 1989	June 30, 1989	47
			July 1, 1989	March 31, 1992	1,004 (1,052 total)
9		Daniel Goldin	April 1, 1992	November 17, 2001	294
					2,922		Bill Clinton
					301 (3,517 total)		George W. Bush
-		Daniel Mulville	November 19, 2001	December 21, 2001	32
10		Sean O'Keefe	December 21, 2001	February 11, 2005	1,148
-		Frederick D. Gregory	February 11, 2005	April 14, 2005	62
11		Michael D. Griffin	April 14, 2005	January 20, 2009	1,377
-		Christopher Scolese	January 20, 2009	July 17, 2009	178		Barack Obama
12		Charles Bolden	July 17, 2009	January 20, 2017	2,744
-		Robert M. Lightfoot Jr.	January 20, 2017	April 23, 2018	458		Donald Trump
13		Jim Bridenstine	April 23, 2018	January 20, 2021	1,003
-		Steve Jurczyk	January 20, 2021	May 3, 2021	103		Joe Biden
14		Bill Nelson	May 3, 2021	January 20, 2025	1,358
-		Janet Petro	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	105		Donald Trump
-		Jared Isaacman	-	Nominee[9]	-

Line of succession

The line of succession for the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is as follows:^[10]

1. Deputy administrator of NASA
2. Associate administrator of NASA
3. Chief of staff of NASA
4. Director of Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas)
5. Director of Kennedy Space Center (Merritt Island, Florida)
6. Director of Marshall Space Flight Center (Redstone Arsenal, Alabama)

In the event of there being no deputy administrator of NASA, the associate administrator will serve as acting administrator.

See also

• Chairmen of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• NASA Chief Scientist