WASHINGTON – Bill McNally begins his new duties next week as assistant administrator for Procurement at NASA Headquarters in Washington. McNally succeeds Tom Luedtke, who now serves as the agency’s associate administrator for Institutions and Management.
McNally is responsible for directing NASA’s procurement functions, including policy direction, procurement strategy; source evaluation and selection; contract and grant negotiations; and termination and close-out actions. He will continue to work to improve the manner in which NASA acquires goods and services from the private sector.
He joined NASA in October 2005 as special procurement advisor in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. A retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, McNally provided strategic direction and contract management advice for all elements of the directorate’s portfolio, which included the development of the nation’s new space and launch vehicles, Ares and Orion, that will return astronauts to the moon and eventually travel to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
After retiring from the Air Force in 2003, McNally worked in private industry as a senior acquisition manager where he provided consulting advice and training to federal agencies. He provided acquisition advice to the Pentagon Renovation Program and to NASA as part of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study.
During a distinguished 26-year military career, he was involved in many facets of acquisition, from a contract administrator and industrial specialist for the Atlas Space Program to serving as a contracting officer and manager in the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and various space and classified research programs.
McNally holds a Level III certification in contracting, and is a certified professional contracts manager and Fellow in the National Contract Management Association. His awards include the NASA Exceptional Service medal, the Air Force Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Joint and Air Force Commendations Medals.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College, N.Y., in 1977 and a master’s degree from Golden Gate University, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in 1981.
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