List of administrators and deputy administrators of NASA


The administrators and deputy administrators of NASA are the highest-ranked officials of NASA, the space agency of the United States Federal Government. The administrator serves as the senior space science advisor 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." The deputy administrator of NASA "serves as the agency’s second in command and is responsible to the administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. They represent NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. They also oversee the day to day work of NASA’s functional offices, such as the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel and Strategic Communications", according to NASA.
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. Daniel Goldin held the post for the longest term, and is best known for pioneering the "faster, better, cheaper" approach to space programs. The only person to hold the post twice is James C. Fletcher, who returned to NASA following the Challenger disaster.
The longest-running deputy administrator was John R. Dailey, who held the post following his retirement from the United States Marine Corps. The longest-running full deputy administrator was Hugh Latimer Dryden, who was the first deputy administrator. William R. Graham has held the post of Deputy Administrator twice, and was the acting administrator in between, as did Frederick D. Gregory. Dr. Daniel Mulville served as the acting deputy administrator twice, and was acting administrator in between.
The current administrator is Jim Bridenstine, who was nominated by President Donald Trump on September 1, 2017. Bridenstine was confirmed on April 19, 2018, and was sworn in four days later on April 23, 2018.

Administrators

; Status

Deputy administrators

Line of succession

The line of succession for the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is as follows:
  1. Deputy administrator of NASA
  2. Associate administrator of NASA
    – Deputy associate administrator of NASA
  3. Chief of staff to the NASA administrator
  4. Director of Johnson Space Center
  5. Director of Kennedy Space Center
  6. Director of Marshall Space Flight Center
In the event of there being no deputy administrator of NASA, and the associate administrator serving as acting administrator, then the deputy associate administrator assumes the role of acting deputy administrator.