Administrator of NASA

The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranked officials of NASA, the space agency of the United States. The Administrator serves as the senior space science adviser to the President of the United States. According to NASA, the role of the Administrator is to "lead the NASA team and manage its resources to advance the Vision for Space Exploration."^[1]

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Seal Constituent part of the administrator's standard
Incumbent Sean Duffy Acting since July 9, 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

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	July 9, 2025	170		Donald Trump
-		Sean Duffy	July 9, 2025	Incumbent	70