NASA Appoints Bhavya Lal As Acting Chief Of Staff

Bhavya Lal named NASA Acting Chief Of Staff: Indian-American Bhavya Lal was promoted to a senior agency position at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She was appointed as the Acting Chief of Staff of the US space agency on Monday.

NASA personnel news. Bhavya Lal is now NASA's Acting Chief of Staff instead of WH liaison. Phillip Thompson is now WH liaison (was coalitions advisor to the campaigns for the two new Georgia Senators and Biden). More in the attached snip. pic.twitter.com/TmooNtoeBt

— Marcia Smith (@SpcPlcyOnline) February 1, 2021

Prior to this, Lal worked as a member of the Joe Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the agency.

She was in charge of overseeing the agency's transition under the administration of President Joe Biden.

NASA has named Bhavya Lal as acting chief of staff for the agency. As senior White House appointee at NASA, Lal served as member of the Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the agency & oversaw agency’s transition under the administration of President Biden: NASA

— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2021

Bhavya Lal will now serve as the senior advisor for budget and finance at NASA. According to NASA, Lal has an extensive experience in engineering and space technology as she had been serving as a member of the research staff at the Institute for Defence Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020. "There, she led the analysis of space technology, strategy, and policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Space Council, as well as federal space-oriented organizations, including NASA, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community," NASA said in a statement, ANI reported.

Lal holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in nuclear engineering, as well as a Master of Science degree in technology and policy, and passed out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also has a doctorate in public policy and public administration from George Washington University. She is a member of both the nuclear engineering and public policy honor societies. Read more about her here.

Bhavya Lal names NASA acting Chief Of Staff: Lal is also is an active member of the space technology and policy community. She has chaired, co-chaired, or served on five high-impact National Academy of Science committees.

Before joining STPI, Lal was president of C-STPS LLC, a science and technology policy research and consulting firm. Prior to that, she was the director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Studies at Abt Associates, a global policy research consultancy based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

It should be noted that Bhavya Lal was nominated and selected to be a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics for her contributions to the space sector, the statement said.

Picture Credit: spacefoundation.org