Board Members and Staff

The Board is composed of prominent scientists, engineers, industrialists, scholars, and policy experts in space research. The chairs of the SSB's standing committees also serve as members of the Board

A complete list of former Board chairs and vice chair can be found here.

Staff

Current Members:

• Lennard A. Fisk, chair, University of Michigan, solar and space physics
• A. Thomas Young, vice chair, Lockheed Martin Corporation (ret.), systems and technology
• Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado, solar and space physics (chair, Committee on Solar and Space Physics)
• Steven J. Battel, Battel Engineering, systems and technology
• Charles L. Bennett, Johns Hopkins University, astrophysics (co-chair, Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics)
• Elizabeth R. Cantwell, Los Alamos National Laboratory, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Alan Dressler, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution, astrophysics
• Jack D. Fellows, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, science and technology policy
• Fiona A. Harrison, California Institute of Technology, astrophysics
• Tamara E. Jernigan, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, science and technology policy
• Klaus Keil, University of Hawaii, solar system exploration
• Molly K. Macauley, Resources for the Future, science and technology policy
• Berrien Moore III, University of New Hampshire, Earth science, climate (chair, Committee on Earth Studies)
• Kenneth H. Nealson, University of Southern California, solar system exploration (co-chair, Committee on the Origin and Evolution of Life)
• James Pawelczyk, Pennsylvania State University, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Soroosh Sorooshian, University of California, Irvine, Earth science
• Richard H. Truly, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (ret.), systems and technology
• Joan Vernikos, Thirdage LLC, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Joseph F. Veverka, Cornell University, solar system exploration (chair, Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration)
• Warren M. Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Earth science
• Charles E. Woodward, University of Minnesota, astrophysics
• Gary P. Zank, University of California, Riverside, solar and space physics

Ex-Officios

Edward C. Stone California Institute of Technology (U.S. Representative to COSPAR)

Raymond S. Colladay Lockheed Martin Astronautics (ret.) (Chair, ASEB)

Gerhard Haerendel Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik (Chair, ESSC)

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Staff:

Marcia S. Smith, Director

Brant Sponberg, Senior Program Officer and Associate Director

Joseph K. Alexander, Senior Program Officer

Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer

Sandra J. Graham, Senior Program Officer

Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer

David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer

Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer

Brian D. Dewhurst, Program Officer

Barbara S. Akinwole, Information Management Associate

Victoria Swisher, Research Associate

Carmela J. Chamberlain, Program Associate

Christina O. Shipman, Financial Associate

Tanja E. Pilzak, Administrative Coordinator

Catherine A. Gruber, Assistant Editor, SSB

Theresa M. Fisher, Program Associate

Rodney N. Howard, Senior Project Assistant

Celeste A. Naylor, Senior Project Assistant

Linda Walker, Senior Project Assistant

Executive Committee

The Space Studies Board's Executive Committee (XCOM) is a subset of the full Board, and acts on the Board's behalf between its regular meetings. The XCOM assists the chair with strategic planning, consults on Board and committee membership, and develops agendas for Board meetings. The XCOM usually meets, separate from the full Board, in late summer.

Members are:
Lennard A. Fisk, Chair
A. Thomas Young, Vice chair

Daniel N. Baker
Charles Bennett
Molly K. Macauley
Berrien Moore III
Kenneth Nealson
James Pawelczyk
Joseph Veverka

Former Space Studies Board Chairs

2000–2003		John H. McElroy, (deceased) University of Texas at Arlington
1994–2000		Claude R. Canizares, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1989–1994		Louis J. Lanzerotti, New Jersey Institute of Technology
1982–1988		Thomas M. Donahue, (deceased) University of Michigan
1977–1981		A.G.W. Cameron, (deceased) Harvard College Observatory
1974–1976		Richard M. Goody, Harvard University
1970–1973		Charles H. Townes, University of California at Berkeley
1962–1969		Harry H. Hess, (deceased) Princeton University
1958–1962		Lloyd V. Berkner, (deceased) Graduate Research Center, Dallas, Texas

Former Space Studies Board Chairs

2000–2006

George A. Paulikas, The Aerospace Corporation (retired)

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SSB Members
Bio sketches

LENNARD A. FISK (NAS), chair, is the Thomas M. Donahue Distinguished University Professor of Space Science in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan. He is an active researcher in both theoretical and experimental studies of the solar atmosphere and its expansion into space to form the heliosphere. He heads the Solar and Heliospheric Research Group, which develops new theoretical concepts and models, analyzes data from the ongoing Ulysses, WIND and ACE missions, and which constructs new flight hardware for upcoming missions such as the MESSENGER mission to Mercury. From 1987 to 1993, Fisk was the Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications and Chief Scientist of NASA. In that position he was responsible for all of NASA's science programs, including space science, Earth science, and microgravity life and physical sciences. From 1977 to 1987, Fisk served as Professor of Physics and Vice President for Research and Financial Affairs at the University of New Hampshire. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Orbital Sciences Corporation and co-founder of the Michigan Aerospace Corporation. His prior NRC service includes the Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security, Committee on Fusion Science Assessment, the Committee on International Space Programs, Air Force Physics Research Committee, the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, and the Space Studies Board. He also served on the review committee formed by the DEPS Committee for the triennial review of the SSB in 2001.

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A. THOMAS YOUNG (NAE), vice-chair, is retired executive vice president of Lockheed Martin. Mr. Young previously was president and COO of Martin Marietta Corp. Prior to joining industry, Mr. Young worked for 21 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. At NASA, he directed the Goddard Space Flight Center, was deputy director of the Ames Research Center, and directed the Planetary Program in the Office of Space Science at NASA headquarters. Mr. Young received high acclaim for his technical leadership in organizing and directing national space and defense programs, especially the Viking program. He is a former member of the NRC Office of Science and Engineering Personnel Advisory Committee, the Committee on Supply Chain Integration: New Roles and Challenges for Small and Medium-Sized Companies, served as chair of the Committee for Technological Literacy. He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Mr. Young also served as a member of the NRC Committee on a New Science Strategy for Solar System Exploration.

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DANIEL N. BAKER is director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and is a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado. His primary research interest is the study of plasma physics and energetic particle phenomena in planetary magnetospheres and in the Earth’s vicinity. He conducts research in space instrument design, space physics data analysis, and magnetospheric modeling. Dr. Baker has published over 700 papers in the refereed literature and has edited six books on topics in space physics. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He currently is an investigator on several NASA space missions including the MESSENGER mission to Mercury, the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission, and the Canadian ORBITALS mission. He has won numerous awards for his research efforts and for his management activities including recognition by the Institute for Scientific Information as being “Highly Cited” in space. Dr. Baker was chosen as a 2007 winner of the University of Colorado’s Robert L. Stearns Award for outstanding research, service, and teaching. Dr. Baker presently serves on several national and international scientific committees and he presently serves on advisory panels of the U.S. Air Force and the National Science Foundation. He is a former member of numerous NRC committees and panels including the Committee on Solar and Space Physics: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, and its Panel on Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere. He also served on the 2006 Decadal Review of the U.S. National Space Weather Program.

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STEVEN J. BATTEL is president of Battel Engineering, which provides engineering, development and review services to NASA, DOD, University, and Industrial clients. Areas of specialization include program management, systems engineering, advanced technology development, spacecraft avionics, power systems, high voltage systems, precision electronics and scientific instrument design. He was a member of the HST External Readiness Review Team for SM-2, SM3A and SM3B, the AXAF/Chandra Independent Assessment Team, the TDRS-H/I/J Independent Review Team, the Mars Polar Lander Failure Review Board and JPL Genesis Failure Review Board, and he has served on review teams for many other space missions. He served on the NRC Committee on Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope. He has worked as an engineer, researcher and manager at the University of Michigan, Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, UC Berkeley, and the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory prior to becoming President of Battel Engineering

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CHARLES L. BENNETT (NAS) has been a professor of physics and astronomy on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland since January 2005. Prior to that he was on the staff at the Goddard Space Flight Center where he held positions as a research scientist, branch head, and senior fellow. Dr. Bennett leads the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission with the title of Principal Investigator. WMAP quantified the age, content, history, and other key properties of the universe with unprecedented accuracy and precision. This was recognized by Science magazine as the 2003 "Breakthrough of the Year." Previous to his work on WMAP, Dr. Bennett was the Deputy P.I. of the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument and a member of the Science Team of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission. The scientific results from this work included the first detection of variations across the sky of the temperature of the afterglow radiation from the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background radiation. Dr. Bennett is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). In 2002, he was named the most Highly Cited Researcher in space science worldwide by ISI and he is the recipient of the Harvey Prize and Gruber Cosmology Prize.

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ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL is the deputy division leader for science and technology in the International, Space and Response Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Until June 2005, she served as the section leader for the Micro and Nanotechnology Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Cantwell began her career building life support systems for human spaceflight missions with the NASA. Her NRC experience includes past membership on the Committee on NASA's Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap, the Space Station Panel of the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps, the Committee on Technology for Human/Robotic Exploration and Development of Space, and the Committee on Advanced Technology for Human Support in Space.

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ALAN DRESSLER (NAS) is an observational astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution. His principal areas of research cover the formation and evolution of galaxies and the study of star populations of distant galaxies. Dr. Dressler has made significant contributions in understanding galaxy formation and evolution, including effects of the environment on galaxy morphology. He was a leader in the identification of the "great attractor" which causes a large distortion of the Hubble expansion. Dr. Dressler served on the NRC Committee on Setting Priorities for NSF-Sponsored Large Research Facility Projects and he chaired the Panel on Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee.

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JACK D. FELLOWS is vice president for corporate affairs at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the director of UCAR Office of Programs (UOP). He is responsible for development of corporate policies and programs, liaison with the Federal government, management of UCAR trustees and member representative activities, UCAR development, and communications, as well as a broad range of scientific and educational programs that serve the atmospheric and related research and education community. Before joining UCAR in 1997 he spent 13 years in OMB overseeing budget and policy issues related to the NASA, NSF, and Federal-wide research and development programs.  During this period with OMB, he helped initiate the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In 1984, he spent a year in the U.S. Congress as the American Geophysical Union’s Congressional Science Fellow.  While in Congress, he split his time between the personal office of George Brown (D-CA) and the House Science and Space Subcommittee and worked on a range of policy issues, including water resources, satellite remote sensing, and general oversight of federal research and development funding.  He helped write legislation that was enacted regarding the commercialization of land remote sensing satellites.

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FIONA A. HARRISON is a professor of physics and astronomy in the Space Radiation Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Harrison's primary research interests are in experimental and observational high-energy astrophysics. She is developing optics and detectors for future balloon- and satellite-borne x-ray and gamma-ray missions. In addition, she has an active observational program in gamma-ray, x-ray, and optical observations of gamma-ray bursts, active galaxies, and neutron stars. Dr. Harrison was a member of the NRC Committee on the Physics of the Universe. She currently serves on the Committee on NASA's Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation.

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TAMARA E. JERNIGAN is associate director for Strategic Human Capital Management at Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, which manages Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). She was previously the principal deputy associate director in the Physics and Advanced Technologies Directorate of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She is a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions where she supervised the pre-flight planning and in-flight execution of critical activities aboard STS-40, 52, 67, 80, and 96. During these flights, Dr. Jernigan has served as mission specialist on the first dedicated Life Sciences mission, STS-40, and as Payload commander of STS-67. In addition to her space flight experience, Dr. Jernigan held numerous management positions as an astronaut. She has served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, assisting with the management of over 180 military and civilian astronauts and support personnel and as Deputy for the Space Station program where she developed and advocated Astronaut Office positions on the design and operation of the Space Station.

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KLAUS KEIL is a researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii. He has received national acclaim for his scientific contributions to the understanding of the early history of the solar system and the origin and evolution of meteorites, asteroids and the terrestrial planets. He is one of the leading cosmochemists/planetary scientists in the world. He served as director of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (1994-2003). Prior to this appointment, Dr. Keil served first as a professor in, and then as chair of, the Department of Geology at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He was also director of the UNM Institute of Meteoritics (1968-1990), and was a researcher for NASA's Space Sciences Division at the Ames Research Center (1963-1968). He has received numerous honors and awards for his work and research, including the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society, the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award, and the National Academy of Sciences G.P. Merrill Award. In 1953, Asteroid 5054, a minor planet orbiting the Sun, was named Asteroid Keil by the International Astronomical Union in 1993.

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MOLLY K. MACAULEY is a senior fellow with Resources for the Future (RFF) where she has been director of Academic Programs since 1996. Dr. Macauley’s research at RFF has covered studies on economics and policy issues of outer space, the valuation of non-priced space resources, the design of incentive arrangements to improve space resource use, and the appropriate relationship between public and private endeavors in space research, development, and commercial enterprise. Dr. Macauley serves as a visiting professor in the Department of Economics at Johns Hopkins University and has previously served in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University. She has frequently testified before Congress and serves on many national-level committees and panels. She served on the NRC Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal Needs, and the Science Panel of the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps.

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BERRIEN MOORE III is the director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Moore's research focuses on the carbon cycle, global biogeochemical cycles, global change, and policy issues in the area of the global environment. From 1998-2002 he served as chair of the Science Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and served as the lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Third Annual Report (TAR) that was released in spring 2001. In July 2001 he chaired the Global Change Open Science Conference in Amsterdam and is one of the four architects of the Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change. He has simultaneously served on and chaired numerous NASA and NOAA committees and has served on NRC committees including the Committee on Global Change Research, which produced the landmark report, Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade (1999). Dr. Moore also served and co-chair of the NRC Survey Steering Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future.

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KENNETH H. NEALSON is the Wrigley Professor of Geobiology at the University of Southern California. His research interests focus on environmental microbiology and biogeochemistry and as such have led to methods that are now being interfaced with the study of organisms in extreme environments, and with upcoming missions, both for in situ life detection and for analysis of samples returned from Mars in future missions. Dr. Nealson previously served as a senior scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and as a professor at the Center for Great Lakes Studies of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, recipient of the Distinguished Visiting Researcher Award from the Joint Oceanographic Institution, and recipient of the Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professorship at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. In addition, he received the 2003 Proctor and Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Dr. Nealson is the author of more than 250 papers and the author of two books on environmental microbiology. He is a former member of the Space Studies Board, the Task Group on Issues in Sample Return (chair), the Ad Hoc Task Group on Planetary Protection (chair), and the Committee on Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution.

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JAMES PAWELCZYK is a physiologist at Pennsylvania State University. He was a payload specialist on the Space Transportation System-90 (Neurolab) mission which flew in 1998 with a focus on neuroscience. He was a member of the NASA Life Sciences Advisory Subcommittee in the Office of Biological and Physical Research, and he served on the ReMaP Task Force (2002), charged with reprioritizing research on the International Space Station. He has been an individual principal investigator and project leader in space life sciences since 1993. Dr. Pawelczyk’s research areas include central neural control of the cardiovascular system and compensatory mechanisms for conditioning and deconditioning. He is knowledgeable about NASA and spaceflight operations and has medical expertise in the effects of space travel on human systems. He was a member of the IOM Committee on NASA’s Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap and of the SSB-ASEB Panel to Review NASA’s Plans for Space Station Research. Dr. Pawelczyk is currently a member of the IOM Committee on Aerospace Medicine and Extreme Enviroments.

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SOROOSH SOROOSHIAN (NAE) is Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, Distinguished Professor of Earth System Science in the School of Physical Sciences, and director of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Sorooshian's research focuses on surface hydrology, primarily in the area of rainfall-runoff modeling. He has devoted much of his effort to model identification and calibration issues and has developed special estimation criteria to account for the uncertainties of calibration data. His other research interests include the application of remote sensing data for characterization of hydrologic parameters and fluxes and the implication of climate variability and change in water resources. Dr. Sorooshian has served on numerous NRC committees, including the Committee for Review of the Science Implementation Plan of the NASA Office of Earth Science. He also served as chair of the Committee to Assess the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service Initiative and chair of the Panel on the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment.

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RICHARD H. TRULY (NAE) is the former director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Truly began his career as a naval aviator and was among the first military astronauts selected to the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory program in Los Angeles, California. He became an astronaut in 1969 and was a member of the astronaut support crew and capsule communicator for all three of the manned Skylab missions (1973) and the Apollo-Soyuz mission (1975). In 1981, Truly served as the pilot of STS-2, which was the first re-flight of the newly designed space shuttle. In 1983, he commanded STS-8, the first nighttime Shuttle launch and landing. Adm. Truly left NASA in 1983 to become the first commander of the Naval Space Command in Dahlgren, Virginia. He returned to NASA and from 1986 to 1992, served as the head of the Space Shuttle program and later as a NASA Administrator. He subsequently served as vice president of the Georgia Institute of Technology and as director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Adm. Truly served on the NRC Naval Studies Board (1992-1994) and was a member of the Committee on Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope (2004-2005).

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JOAN VERNIKOS was the director of Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications at NASA Headquarters from 1993 until September 2000. Prior to this position, she was on staff at NASA's Ames Research Center and before that, at Ohio State University Medical School where she was assistant professor of pharmacology. While at NASA, Dr. Vernikos led the research that developed the framework for determining how spaceflight and Earth's gravity affect the human body. She was the first to carry out head-down bed-rest studies in women and compare the changes in fluid and electrolyte regulation and their post-bed-rest orthostatic response to that of men. For this work and her leadership in the space sciences, she received numerous awards including the Strughold and Leverett Awards from the Aerospace Medical Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Women in Aerospace. After leaving NASA in 2000, Dr. Vernikos began a consulting company, Thirdage LLC.

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JOSEPH F. VEVERKA is a professor of astronomy and chair of the Astronomy Department at Cornell University. His research focuses on the use of spacecraft imaging data to identify the important processes that have affected the evolution of small bodies in the solar system. Recent investigations include comprehensive analysis of observations made by the Galileo spacecraft of asteroids Gaspra and Ida, and of Ida's satellite Dactyl. Dr. Veverka was the team leader of the Imaging/Spectral Mapping investigation on NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, which will be launched in February 1996 to carry out an orbital investigation of asteroid 433 Eros. Studies are also continuing of eolian processes on Mars and of the connection between geologic processes and photometric properties on icy satellites. Recent investigations have focused on the characteristics of frost deposits on Neptune's Triton and on the polar caps of Jupiter's Galilean satellites. Dr. Veverka is a member of the imaging investigations on NASA's Galileo, Cassini, and Mars Global Surveyor missions.

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WARREN M. WASHINGTON (NAE) is a senior scientist and head of the Climate Change Research Section in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). After completing his doctorate in meteorology at Pennsylvania State University, he joined NCAR in 1963 as a research scientist. Dr. Washington's areas of expertise are atmospheric science and climate research, and he specializes in computer modeling of the earth's climate. He serves as a consultant and advisor to a number of government officials and committees on climate-system modeling. From 1978 to 1984, he served on the President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. In 1998, he was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Science Advisory Board. In 2002, he was appointed to the Science Advisory Panel of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the National Academies Coordinating Committee on Global Change. Dr. Washington's NRC service is extensive and includes membership on the Board on Sustainable Development; the Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources; the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate; and chair of the Panel on Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is past chair of the National Science Board.

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CHARLES E. WOODWARD is a professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota. He is an infrared astronomer who conducts studies on astronomical dust particles produced in the atmosphere of evolved stars and cometary dust in the solar system. He is a board member (U.S. Representative) and incoming chair of the International Gemini Observatory and has chaired the American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. Dr. Woodward served as a presidential faculty fellow at the University of Wyoming where he was an associate professor and a National Science Foundation fellow. His published research has covered infrared spectroscopy, star formation, novae, and comets. In 1997, he co-authored an article on the baffling halo emission from Galaxy NGC5907 for Nature. Dr. Woodward served on the NRC Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Review of Progress in Astronomy and Astrophysics toward the Decadal Vision, and the Committee on NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment.

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GARY P. ZANK is a professor of physics and the director of the Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics at the University of California, Riverside. He was formerly with the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware. His research interests are wide-ranging, covering space physics, astrophysics, and laboratory plasma physics. Dr. Zank is involved in both experimental and observational programs, either directly or as a guest investigator. These programs include the Voyager Interstellar Mission (magnetometer), European Space Agency (ESA) ROSETTA ORBITER plasma package (ROPP), the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) (as a guest investigator) and Ulysses (as a guest investigator), and the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Zank is the recipient of an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, and the Zeldovich Medal that is awarded jointly by the Russian Academy of Sciences and COSPAR and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He currently serves on the NRC Committee on Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments for Research and Monitoring in Solar-Terrestrial Physics: A Workshop, and previously served on the Committee on Exploration of the Outer Heliosphere: A Workshop, the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, and the Panel on Theory, Computation and Data Exploration (chair).

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Staff

MARCIA S. SMITH is the Director of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Space Studies Board. She is also Director of the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. Prior to joining the NRC in March 2006, Ms. Smith was a senior level specialist in aerospace and telecommunications policy for the Resources, Science, and Industry Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. She had been with CRS since 1975, serving as a policy analyst for the members and committees of the U.S. Congress on matters concerning U.S. and foreign military and civilian space activities, and on telecommunications issues including the Internet (and formerly on nuclear energy). From 1985-1986, Ms. Smith took a leave of absence to serve as executive director of the U.S. National Commission on Space.

Ms. Smith is the North American editor for the quarterly journal Space Policy. She is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). She is a member of AIAA’s International Activities Committee, and its Honors and Awards Committee; served on its Ethical Conduct Panel (1997- 1999, chair in 1999); was a member of its International Space Year Committee (1989-1992), Public Policy Committee (1982-1989) and Space Systems Technical Committee (1986-1989); was an AIAA Distinguished Lecturer (1983-1988); and was a member of the Council of AIAA's National Capital Section (1994-1996). She is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and co-chaired its Fellows Committee (2004). She was AAS’ president (1985-1986), on its board of directors (1982-1985), and executive committee (1982-1987, 1988-1989). She was awarded the AAS John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award in 2006. She is an emeritus member of Women in Aerospace (WIA). She was a founder of WIA, its president (1987), a member of its board of directors (1984-1990), and was awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. She is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. She is a member of the International Institute of Space Law (vice president, 2003-2006; board of directors, 1996-2003). She is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, was a trustee (1995-2001), and was co-chair of its Space Activities and Society Committee (1991-1997). She is a life member of the New York Academy of Sciences and of the Washington Academy of Sciences (board of directors, 1988-1989). She is a member of Sigma Xi. She was a member of the board of directors of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education (2000-2003). She was a member of the NRC Committee on Human Exploration (1992-1993 and 1996-1997).

A graduate of Syracuse University, Ms. Smith is the author or co-author of more than 220 reports and articles on space, nuclear energy, and telecommunications and Internet issues.

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BRANT L. SPONBERG is the Associate Director of the Space Studies Board, the Senior Program Officer for the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, and serves as a study director for the assessment of NASA’s performance in solar and space physics and the astrophysics decadal survey. Before joining the SSB, Mr. Sponberg was a program analyst with the Department of Energy (2007-2008), managed commercial launch and innovative technology development programs at NASA Headquarters (2004-2006), staffed the development of the Vision for Space Exploration under the NASA Comptroller (2003-2004), and covered NASA programs for the White House Office of Management and Budget (1997-2003). Mr. Sponberg received his M.A. in science, technology, and public policy from George Washington University (1997) and his A.B. in astrophysics and history from Harvard University (1995).

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JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER is a senior program officer for the Space Studies Board. He served as SSB director from 1998-2005. He was previously deputy assistant administrator for science in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (1994-98), associate director of space sciences at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (1993-94), and Assistant Associate Administrator for Space Sciences and Applications in the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications (1987-93). Other positions have included deputy NASA chief scientist and senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. Alexander’s own research work has been in radio astronomy and space physics. Mr. Alexander received B.S. and M.A. degrees in physics from the College of William and Mary.

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ARTHUR A. CHARO received his Ph.D. in physics from Duke University in 1981 and was a postdoctoral fellow in chemical physics at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. Dr. Charo then pursued his interests in national security and arms control at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs, where he was a fellow from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 to 1995, he worked in the International Security and Space Program in the U.S. Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). Dr. Charo has been a senior program officer at the Space Studies Board since OTA’s closure in 1995. His principal responsibilities at the SSB are to direct the activities of the Committee on Earth Studies and the Committee on Solar and Space Physics. Dr. Charo is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Security (1985-1987) and was the American Institute of Physics’s 1988-1989 American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science Fellow. In addition to directing studies that have resulted in some 28 reports from the NRC, he is the author of research papers in the field of molecular spectroscopy, reports to Congress on arms control and space policy, and the monograph Continental Air Defense: A Neglected Dimension of Strategic Defense (University Press of America, 1990).

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SANDRA J. GRAHAM joined the Space Studies Board as a senior program officer in 1994. A recipient of the National Academies Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Graham has directed a large number of major studies, many of them focused on space research in biological and physical sciences and technology. Her more recent work includes an assessment of servicing options for the Hubble Space Telescope, reviews of the NASA roadmaps for space sciences and the International Space Station, and a review of NASA’s Space Communications program while on loan to the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Duke University in 1990, she carried out research focused primarily on topics in bioinorganic chemistry, such as the exchange mechanisms and reaction chemistry of biological metal complexes and their analogs. From 1990 to 1994 she held the position of senior scientist at the Bionetics Corporation, where she worked in the science branch of the Microgravity Science and Applications Division at NASA headquarters.

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ROBERT L. RIEMER joined the National Research Council in 1985. He served as senior program officer for the two most recent decadal surveys of astronomy and astrophysics and has worked on studies in many areas of physics and astronomy for the Board on Physics and Astronomy (where he served as associate director from 1988-2000) and the Space Studies Board. Prior to joining the NRC, Dr. Riemer was a senior project geophysicist with Chevron Corporation. He received his Ph.D. in experimental high-energy physics from the University of Kansas-Lawrence and his Bachelor of Science in physics and astrophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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DAVID H. SMITH joined the Space Studies Board in 1991. He is the senior staff officer and study director for a variety of NRC activities, including the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration, the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life, the Mars Astrobiology Task Group, the Mars Architecture Assessment Task Group, the Committee on the Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems, the Task Group on Organic Environments in the Solar System, the Nuclear Systems Committee, and the proposed Lunar Science Strategy Committee. He also organizes the SSB’s summer intern program and supervises most, if not all, of the interns. He received a B.Sc. in mathematical physics from the University of Liverpool in 1976 and a D.Phil. in theoretical astrophysics from Sussex University in 1981. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Queen Mary College University (1980-1982), he held the position of associate editor and, later, technical editor of Sky and Telescope. Immediately prior to joining the staff of the SSB, Dr. Smith was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1990-1991).

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DWAYNE A. DAY joined the Space Studies Board in 2005. He has served as the staff officer and study director for NRC studies on: the assessment of space radiation hazards to astronauts, the future of NASA’s workforce, NASA’s performance in solar system exploration, and on options for the next New Frontiers mission selection. He has a Ph.D. in political science from The George Washington University, specializing in space and national security policy. Dr. Day is the author of Lightning Rod, a history of the Air Force chief scientist’s office; has co-edited or edited several books and journal issues, and has written on American civil and military space policy and history.  Prior to joining the SSB, he worked as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Prior to that, he worked for the Congressional Budget Office and at George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute.

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BRIAN D. DEWHURST is a program officer with the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. He joined the National Research Council in 2001 as a research assistant with the Space Studies Board, and transferred from there to the Board on Physics and Astronomy in 2002. He is the staff officer and study director for a variety of NRC activities, including the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Radio Frequencies, and other astronomy-oriented tasks. He received a B.A. in astronomy and history from the University of Virginia in 2000 and an M.A. in science, technology, and public policy from George Washington University in 2002.

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BARBARA S. AKINWOLE is the information management associate for the Space Studies Board. Ms. Akinwole holds a B.A. in history/government and the Master of Library Science degree. She has been with the SSB since 1998, and is involved in all aspects of Board activities. Prior to joining the SSB, Ms. Akinwole served as a reference/business services consultant in state government. She is primarily responsible for the interpretation of, and compliance with, provisions of HR2977 (1997 amendments to the Federal Advisory Committee Act) as it relates to the appointment of all volunteers for advisory committee studies, Board membership, and the conduct and activities of all discipline study committees. She also serves as the single point of contact between the SSB office and other NRC and NAS/NAE functions. In addition to these duties, Ms. Akinwole coordinates the Board’s outreach activities, manages the Board’s web presence (internal and external), compiles statistics on volunteer participation, and provides research assistance to staff as needed.

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VICTORIA SWISHER is a research associate. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College with a major in astronomy and a minor in English. She has presented papers based on her research covering X-rays from DoAr 21, a young star, at the 2005 American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting, the 2006 AAS meeting, and at various Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium undergraduate research conferences. Her other research focused on laboratory astrophysics, studying the X-rays of plasma, from which her senior thesis titled “Modeling UV and X-ray Spectra from the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment” was written.

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CARMELA J. CHAMBERLAIN has worked for the National Academies since 1974.  She started as a senior project assistant in the Institute for Laboratory Animals for Research, which is now a board in the Division on Earth and Life Sciences, where she worked for 2 years, then transferred to the Space Science Board, which is now the Space Studies Board (SSB).  She is now a program associate with the SSB.

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CHRISTINA O. SHIPMAN is the financial associate for the Space Studies Board. She came to work at the SSB on a fulltime basis in January 2005, having worked with both the SSB and the NRC Executive Office immediately prior to that. She was also the financial officer for the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications for many years. She attended Mercer University and majored in sociology.

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TANJA E. PILZAK is the administrative coordinator for the Space Studies Board. She comes to the SSB from the Division on Earth and Life Studies where she was a research associate for five years in the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Prior to becoming a research associate, Ms. Pilzak was a proposal specialist and a contract assistant in the Office of Contracts and Grants for three years as. She holds an M.S. in environmental management from the University of Maryland University College and a B.S. in natural resources management from the University of Maryland College Park. 

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CATHERINE A. GRUBER is an assistant editor with the Space Studies Board. She joined the SSB as a senior program assistant in 1995. Ms. Gruber first came to the NRC in 1988 as a senior secretary for the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and has also worked as an outreach assistant for the National Academy of Sciences-Smithsonian Institution’s National Science Resources Center. She was a research assistant (chemist) in the National Institute of Mental Health’s Laboratory of Cell Biology for two years. She has a B.A. in natural science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

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THERESA M. FISHER is a program associate with the Space Studies Board. During her 25 years with the NRC she has held positions in the executive, editorial, and proposal-contracts offices of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). She has also held positions with several NAE and NRC boards, including the Energy Engineering Board, the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, and the Marine Board.

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RODNEY N. HOWARD joined the Space Studies Board as a senior project assistant in 2002. Before joining SSB, most of his vocational life was spent in the health profession¾as a pharmacy technologist at Doctor’s Hospital in Lanham, Maryland, and as an interim center administrator at the Concentra Medical Center in Jessup, Maryland. During that time, he participated in a number of Quality Circle Initiatives which were designed to improve relations between management and staff. Mr. Howard obtained his B.A. in communications from the University of Baltimore County in 1983.

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CELESTE A. NAYLOR joined the NRC and the Space Studies Board in June 2002 as a senior project assistant. She has worked with the Committee on Assessment of Options to Extend the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Microgravity Research and the Task Group on Research on the International Space Station. Ms. Naylor is a member of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and has more than seven years of experience in event management.

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LINDA M. WALKER is a senior program assistant with the Space Studies Board. She has been with the National Academies of Science since September 2007. Before joining the Board Linda worked with the National Academies Press department. She has 28 years of administrative experience. She is a native Washingtonian, mother of 27-year old identical twin girls and a grandmother of two. Her hobbies are reading, traveling and spending quality time with her grandkids.

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