Suzanne Gillen, former professional staff at the U.S. Senate, has been named associate administrator of NASA’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. She holds 14 years of experience in the Senate, having contributed to policy for NASA, civil space and aviation areas under Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the space agency said Friday.
Gillen oversaw the progress for many legislative efforts including the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017. She also contributed to the drafting efforts behind the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, and managed activities supporting the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015.
In March 2018, the former staff member left the Senate for a private sector position at Maxar Technologies where she coordinated with Congress on space policy and strategy as the firm’s senior director of government relations and public policy.
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