The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within United States space policy,[1] and is assisted by a deputy administrator.
The administrator serves as NASA's chief executive officer, accountable to the president for the leadership necessary to achieve the agency's mission. This leadership requires articulating the agency's vision, setting its programmatic and budget priorities and internal policies, and assessing agency performance.[3]
History
Six former NASA administrators in 1980: (from left) James E. Webb, T. Keith Glennan, Robert A Frosch, Thomas O. Paine, George M. Low, and Alan M. Lovelace
The second administrator, James E. Webb, served from 1961 to 1968, from the beginning of the Kennedy administration through the end of the Johnson administration, thus overseeing each of the critical first crewed missions throughout the Mercury and Gemini programs until days before the launch of the first Apollo mission. He also dealt with the Apollo 1 fire.[5] During Webb's administration, NASA developed from a loose collection of research centers to a coordinated organization. He had a key role in creating the Manned Spacecraft Center, later the Johnson Space Center, in Houston. Despite the pressures to focus on the Apollo program, Webb ensured that NASA carried out a program of planetary exploration with the Mariner and Pioneer space programs. Webb was an early champion of space telescopes,[6] like the one that would later bear his name. Encouraged by Kennedy and Johnson, Webb made racial integration a priority for the agency. NASA publicly supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964[7] and initiated a series of innovative programs aimed at increasing black participation[8] including specifically targeting black colleges and schools with recruitment programs.[9]
The current administrator is entrepreneur and philanthropist Jared Isaacman, who was nominated by President Donald Trump on November 5, 2025. [12] He replaced Sean Duffy, who served as acting administrator from July 9, 2025 to December 17, 2025.[13]Jared Isaacman was nominated by Trump (while he was president-elect) on December 4, 2024,[14] but his nomination was withdrawn on May 31,[15] reportedly because of his connections to Elon Musk and donations towards Democratic, anti-Trump politicians.[16]
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