Jody Singer

Jody Singer served as the 14^th director of one of NASA’s largest field installations, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Singer, served as the acting center director since July of 2018 and was appointed in September 2018 as the first female Marshall center director.  Under her leadership from 2018 until August of 2023, she was responsible for nearly 7,000 on-and-near-site civil service and contractor employees and an annual budget of approximately $5 billion. Prior to being named to the position, she served as the Marshall deputy director from February 2016.  Marshall Space Flight Center includes the Huntsville installation on Redstone Arsenal and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.

During her 38-year NASA career, Singer held leadership roles of increasing responsibility in human spaceflight (Shuttle, Commercial Crew, International Space Station (ISS)), technology and science flight mission programs.  Singer was appointed in 2002 to the Senior Executive Service, one of the Federal government’s distinguished appointments.  She began her NASA engineering career in 1985 through the professional intern program.

From 1986, she served in numerous levels of responsibilities in the Space Shuttle Program office, including an engineer in the Space Shuttle Main Engine office and being selected as the first female project manager for the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project leading the team during the Columbia Return to Flight activities. From 2010 through 2012, she held deputy positions for three concurrent major programs: the Space Shuttle, Ares, and the start-up of the Space Launch System (SLS). Under her leadership, Marshall supports our Nation in human and scientific exploration, development and discovery which benefits all humankind.   In November of 2022, Mrs. Singer led the Marshall team to accomplish the successful launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) which enabled the historic Artemis 1 mission restoring America’s capability to send humans to the moon.  America has not launched a human mission to the moon since 1972. Other major programs at Marshall includes the Human Lander System which will enable sustained human presence on the surface of the moon and on to Mars.

Singer earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama in 1983.  She has been named as an Alabama Distinguished Engineering Fellow, a State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame recipient, Engineer of the Year and inducted as an AIAA Associate Fellow. Singer has been recognized with numerous awards during her NASA career, including a Presidential Rank Award (Distinguished and Meritorious Executive), the highest honor for career federal employees, and the Silver Snoopy award by the NASA Astronaut corps.