posted 10-17-2014 10:29 AM               

Dr. Dava Newman is a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She first joined the MIT faculty in 1993 and has held a number of different faculty positions since then. Dr. Newman is a Harvard-MIT Health, Sciences and Technology faculty member and became a MacVicar Faculty Fellow in 2000. She is also the Director of the MIT Portugal Program, Director of the Technology and Policy Program, and Co-Director of the Man-Vehicle Laboratory at MIT. From 1992 to 1993, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. Dr. Newman received a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame and two S.M.s and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2008, she contributed to a report on the future of human spaceflight prepared by the Space, Policy, and Society Research Group at MIT. That report, completed before the Obama administration took office, endorsed the then-impending retirement of the space shuttle and an extension of the international space station to 2020. It also called for a "balance" in resources for exploration of the Moon, Mars and other destinations.

More recently, Newman served on the technical panel that supported the National Academies' Committee on Human Spaceflight. That panel helped develop several different "pathways" for human space exploration, all leading to the long-term goal of humans on the surface of Mars, featured in the committee's final report published in June.

posted 04-27-2015 06:56 PM               

Statements on Senate Confirmation of Dava Newman as NASA Deputy Administrator

The following are statements from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Dr. Dava Newman on Monday's Senate confirmation of Newman as the new NASA Deputy Administrator:

Administrator Bolden:

"I am delighted with the Senate confirmation of Dr. Dava Newman to be the Deputy Administrator of NASA. I am personally ecstatic to welcome her aboard at such a busy and exciting time as we continue to make extraordinary strides on our Journey to Mars.

"The strong bipartisan support Dr. Newman received in the Senate is a reflection of her well-earned reputation and renown as a global leader in science and technology research and policy. I have known and admired Dava for several decades and her talents and skills as an educator and technological innovator will bring a new energy to our NASA leadership team. Much of her research has focused on critical aspects of human space exploration. In fact, she is legendary in the aerospace universe for developing a new, lighter-weight spacesuit design that gives astronauts more mobility in space.

"Dr. Newman brings with her valuable experience at the nexus among engineering, science and space policy. For more than a decade she's directed the Technology and Policy program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"I think I speak for the entire NASA Family when I say we couldn't be more excited to welcome Dr. Newman to our team."

Dr. Newman:

"It's an enormous honor to serve at NASA in times when our country is extending humanity's reach into space while strengthening American leadership here on Earth.

"I'm profoundly grateful to President Obama, the United States Senate, and Administrator Bolden – along with everyone at MIT. I can't wait to come aboard."

posted 05-19-2015 04:38 AM               

Dava Newman Begins Work as NASA's Deputy Administrator

Dava Newman started her official duties as NASA's new deputy administrator on Monday (May 18) at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Above: NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Dava Newman walks to a meeting with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, on Monday, May 18, her first day on the job at NASA. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Newman was nominated in January by President Obama, confirmed by the Senate in April and sworn in on Friday, May 15. The deputy administrator position had been vacant since the departure of Lori Garver in September 2013.

"I have known and admired Dava for several decades," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Her talents and skills as an educator and technological innovator will bring a new energy to our NASA leadership team, and I'm ecstatic to have her on board."

Along with Bolden, Newman is responsible to the agency administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for NASA. Newman will perform the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the administrator, assists the administrator in making final agency decisions, and acts for the administrator in his absence by performing all necessary functions to govern NASA operations and exercises the powers vested in the agency by law. Newman also is responsible for articulating the agency's vision and representing NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities.

"I'm very excited to be at NASA," said Newman. "I'm looking forward to being a part of the agency's work to expand humanity's reach into space, advance our journey to Mars and strengthen America's leadership here at home."

Prior to her tenure with NASA, Newman was the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. Her expertise is in multidisciplinary research that encompasses aerospace biomedical engineering.,

Newman's research studies were carried out through space flight experiments, ground-based simulations, and mathematical modeling. Her latest research efforts included: advanced space suit design, dynamics and control of astronaut motion, mission analysis, and engineering systems design and policy analysis. She also had ongoing efforts in assistive technologies to augment human locomotion here on Earth.

Newman is the author of Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, an introductory engineering textbook published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. in 2002. She also has published more than 250 papers in journals and refereed conferences.

As a student at MIT, Newman earned her Ph.D. in aerospace biomedical engineering in 1992 and Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering and technology and policy in 1989. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.