Dr. Robert Whitehead entered Government service in 1971 after receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and completing a one-year postdoctoral associate program at the NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Whitehead began his career with the Dept. of Navy as a research engineer in the Aviation Dept. of the David Taylor Naval Ship R&D Center at Carderock. He transferred to the Office of Naval Research in 1976 as a Scientific Officer in Applied Aerodynamics. For the next 13 years Dr. Whitehead held a number of positions at ONR, finally as Director, Mechanics Division from 1986 until 1989 when he transferred to NASA Headquarters. Dr. Whitehead began at NASA in the Office of Aeronautics as the Assistant Director for Aeronautics (Rotorcraft). He held a variety of other positions before becoming the Associate Administrator for Aeronautics in 1995 and Associate Administrator for Aeronautics and Space Transportation in 1997. As Associate Administrator, Dr. Whitehead led a Research and Technology Enterprise of over 6,000 civil servants and a similar number of contractors at four research centers with an annual budget of approximately $1.5 billion.