Stephen Volz Moves from NASA to NOAA to Lead NESDIS

Stephen Volz has been chosen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to succeed Mary Kicza as head of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS).   Volz begins his new duties on November 2.

Volz comes to NOAA from NASA, where he was associate director for Flight Programs in the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD).  NASA and NOAA have a close relationship on environmental satellites, which includes weather satellites.   NASA is the procurement agent for NOAA’s satellites, overseeing their development and launch after NOAA sets the requirements.  NESDIS is the part of NOAA that is responsible for satellites, including the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series now in development. 

NOAA Administrator Kathy Sullivan praised Volz’s “outstanding executive leadership skills and technical expertise.”  And while NASA may be losing a top manager, SMD Associate Administrator John Grunsfeld also expressed enthusiasm:  “We are thrilled that NOAA has selected one of our top program managers” and “I look forward to working with him as [both agencies] continue to support a weather-ready nation.”

Dr. Stephen Volz.  Photo credit:  NOAA

At NASA headquarters, Volz was the program executive for CloudSat, CALIPSO and ICEsat.  While at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, he was an instrument manager, a systems engineer, and a cryogenic systems engineer on programs including the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), a satellite that enabled discoveries that won John Mather and George Smoot Nobel Prizes.   Volz also worked at Ball Aerospace, where he led the design and development of the Spitzer Space Telescope.  He has a Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Volz succeeds Mary Kicza, who also joined NOAA from NASA.  She retired earlier this year.