Bruce H.S. Anderson has been named chief operating officer of the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Ala.
In his new role, Anderson is a primary NSSTC liaison with NASA, educational institutions and industry. He also is responsible for day-to-day management and operation of the science center, including strategic business planning, safety oversight and supervision of facility resources. He serves as a principal advisor to NSSTC interim Director Dr. Ann F. Whitaker, and to the Marshall Center’s Science and Technology Directorate.
Co-founded and operated by NASA and the Alabama Space Science and Technology Alliance, a consortium of state research universities, the NSSTC conducts cutting-edge scientific study in various disciplines, including Earth science, space science, optics, biotechnology, materials science, information technology and propulsion. Its personnel also foster the education of future generations of scientists and engineers by working with and inspiring students. They further support elementary and secondary-level educators by sharing time, resources and expertise.
Before taking his new post, Anderson was special assistant to the director of the Office of Center Operations at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. He also continues to serve as the Center’s “ombudsman,” a position he has held since December 2004. The ombudsman provides the civil service and contractor workforce at Marshall with a confidential resource for informal discussion of issues related to safety, performance or mission success. The ombudsman acts as a liaison to investigate and enable resolution of such concerns.
“We’re very proud to bring Bruce Anderson’s experience and insight to the NSSTC,” said Whitaker, who also is director of the Science and Technology Directorate at Marshall. “His legal expertise and knowledge of science and engineering will help us sustain the stellar work of this research organization — bringing unprecedented scientific value to Alabama and the nation.”
Anderson, who was appointed to the federal Senior Executive Service in 1998, has served the Office of Center Operations at Marshall since 2003. He was chief counsel at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., from 1998 to 2003. The Senior Executive Service is a personnel system covering most top managerial and policy positions in the executive branch of the federal government.
A native of Petersburg, Va., Anderson received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1971 and a law degree in 1975, both from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He was a structural design engineer for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. in Newport News, Va., from 1971 to 1973.
After earning his law degree, he joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1975, serving in the Office of Counsel in Mobile, Ala., until 1981. He also taught civil engineering classes at the University of South Alabama in Mobile from 1979 to 1981.
From 1981 to 1986, Anderson served as district counsel for the Corps of Engineers’ Memphis, Tenn. district. There, he led legal duties for navigation, flood control and harbor maintenance projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Anderson came to NASA for the first time in 1986, serving for three years as deputy chief counsel for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. There, he provided legal leadership for the center and for NASA’s $2.7 billion Tracking and Data Relay Services project, which linked virtually all communications between American scientists and technicians and orbiting spacecraft via the White Sands Space Network Complex in White Sands, N.M.
From 1989 to 1991, Anderson returned to the Corps of Engineers to become division counsel for the Missouri River Division in Omaha, Neb., serving an 11-state regional office and providing legal oversight for all operations of the Missouri River System. He was senior counsel for Environmental Compliance at the Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington from 1991 to 1994, providing legal support on matters pertaining to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Environmental Restoration Program, the Corps of Engineers’ Superfund program on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Corps’ solid waste and hazardous waste management program.
Before returning to NASA, Anderson served from 1994 to 1998 as chief counsel for the Corps of Engineers’ TransAtlantic Programs Center in Winchester, Va. There, he provided legal oversight and support for construction and maintenance projects in Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa.
Anderson is married to the former Jan Reid of Cherokee, Ala. They live in the Huntsville area.
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