Deputy Administrator, Lori Garver leaving NASA: Champion of NASA’s vision, workforce and U.S. aerospace

WASHINGTON, DC – Gregory Junemann, President of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), issued the following statement regarding NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver’s imminent departure from NASA:

“We at IFPTE are obviously saddened by Lori Garver’s decision to leave NASA, but welcome her with open arms and wish her all the best in her new position advocating for America’s talented and deserving airline pilots.

“During her years at NASA Lori has been a tireless champion for U.S. innovation and discovery in all things aerospace. In particular, she has been fighting diligently for more than four years to persuade Congress to support multiple venues for U.S. access to low-earth orbit, arguing that our nation can and should harness its 21st century ingenuity and know-how to determine its own destiny, and not depend on 20th century Russian systems to ferry our astronauts to the Space Station. Her astute leadership will be missed at NASA, but I welcome her as a Sister in the House of Labor.”

Lee Stone, IFPTE Vice President for the Western Federal Area and co-chair of the NASA Labor-Management Forum, added: “Lori has understood that NASA’s greatest asset is its people. She fully embraced Executive Order 13522 and made sure that NASA became the model for smart and effective federal employee relations with elected labor representatives playing a key role. Under Lori’s leadership NASA’s partnership with labor helped in guiding agency policy-making and implementation in order to optimize productivity and efficiency for the taxpayer.

“Together with her sister-in-arms, Beth Robinson, who will also be leaving NASA shortly for the Department of Energy, Lori has been instrumental in aiding Administrator Bolden to navigate the complex and traitorous waters of austerity and political turmoil, while sustaining NASA’s core capabilities and world leadership in aerospace research, technology, and exploration.”

“As Lori departs we at IFPTE are hopeful that Congress and the President will soon be able to transcend the current political chaos and agree, among other critical priorities, to preserve NASA, one of the crown jewels of the Nation, for the next generation of Americans.”
Representing upwards of 8,000 NASA workers, IFPTE is NASA’s largest civil servant labor union.