Lori Garver Leaving NASA

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced today that she is leaving NASA effective September 6.

In an email, Garver said that she has accepted a position in the private sector outside the space industry.   NASAWatch reports that she will be joining the Air Line Pilots Association.

Garver has spent most of her career in the space business.    After serving on the staff of former astronaut and Senator John Glenn, she joined the staff of the National Space Society, rising to the position of Executive Director.  She then joined NASA as a policy adviser to Dan Goldin.   Subsequently she worked in the private sector, including as head of her own consulting company.   She was active in Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and moved over to Barack Obama’s campaign after he won the Democratic primary.   After Obama’s election as President, she headed the transition team for NASA.  Obama nominated her to be NASA’s Deputy Administrator in 2009.  She was confirmed by the Senate that July.