WASHINGTON – The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs has named Scott Pace director of the Space Policy Institute. Pace, who also will be a professor of the practice of international affairs, has research interests in U.S. and international space policy issues, approaches to policy and program analysis, and international negotiations. He will assume his responsibilities in September 2008.
Pace joins GW’s Space Policy Institute from NASA, where he was the associate administrator for program analysis and evaluation. Prior to that, Pace was the chief technologist for space communications at NASA’s Office of Space Communications, and he served as the deputy chief of staff to former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe. Previously, he was assistant director for space and aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and he also worked for the RAND Corporation’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, a federally funded research and development center for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
“We are thrilled to have someone with Dr. Pace’s outstanding professional and policy background take the helm of the Space Policy Institute,” said Michael E. Brown, dean of GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs. “Not only has he held key positions at the world’s foremost space organization, he has also worked for the White House, the Department of Commerce, and RAND.”
Pace succeeds John Logsdon, who was the first director of the institute, a position he held for 21 years. “I can think of no one more qualified to pursue new levels of excellence,” said Logsdon. In September, Logsdon will begin a year-long appointment as the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Pace said, “I’ve known and respected Dr. Logsdon’s work in space policy for almost 30 years. We have been friends and colleagues for almost as long, and thus it is a singular honor for me to succeed him as director of GW’s Space Policy Institute. My technical background and government experiences have usually led me to take a practical, one might say engineering, approach to policy making and analysis. In this vein, I hope to sustain and build on John’s achievements through deep ties with the broader university community and a strong program of policy analysis, training, and research that contributes to the needs of the nation and the international community.”
Pace received a doctorate in policy analysis from the Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School, a Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics and a master’s degree in technology and policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College.
The Space Policy Institute was established by The George Washington University in 1987 in recognition of a growing need for an independent and informed source of space policy expertise. The institute conducts research, promotes dialogue, and supports graduate education on policy issues related to U.S. space efforts and cooperative and competitive interactions in space. The GW Space Policy Institute is a research and policy program within the Center for International Science and Technology Policy at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs is one of the world’s leading schools of international affairs. Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., its mission is to educate the next generation of international leaders, conduct research that advances understanding of important global issues, and engage the policy community in the United States and around the world.
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