Commencement Speaker

 

Vanessa E. Wyche
Acting Associate Administrator 

Vanessa E. Wyche is the acting associate administrator of NASA. She is the senior advisor to NASA acting administrator Janet Petro. In her role, Wyche leads the agency’s 10 center directors as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA Headquarters in Washington. She acts as the agency’s chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $25 billion. 

Previously, Wyche was the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, home to America’s astronaut corps, Mission Control Center, International Space Station, Orion, and Gateway programs, and its more than 11,000 civil service and contractor employees. Her responsibilities included a broad range of human spaceflight activities, including development and operation of human spacecraft and NASA astronaut selection and training.

Wyche also oversaw NASA Johnson’s activities supporting the commercialization of low Earth orbit, supporting the agency’s needs following the transition from the International Space Station in 2030, and led the center’s programs supporting the exploration of the Moon and Mars, including surface system capabilities for human and commercial robotic missions, as well as simulated missions for crews on Mars. 

During her 35-year career, Wyche has held several other leadership roles including Johnson’s deputy center director, director of Exploration Integration and Science Directorate, flight manager of several Space Shuttle Program missions, and executive officer in the Office of the Administrator, as well as additional center-level technical and program organizations. 

A native of South Carolina, Wyche earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Master of Science in Bioengineering from Clemson University and was inducted into the Thomas Green Clemson Academy of Engineers and Scientists in 2019. She received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Coastal Carolina University in 2022 as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Texas Southern University in 2024.

Wyche is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She has numerous awards and recognitions, notably the Presidential Rank Award, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, and two NASA Achievement Medals, and she is an AIAA Associate Fellow.

Wyche is a passionate promoter of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and serves as a member of American Institute of Physics Foundation board of trustees, Clemson University’s College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences advisory board, and is a past chair of the Space Center Houston board of directors.