George T. Whitesides
George Whitesides | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Alma mater | Princeton University King's College, Cambridge |
| Title | Chief Space Officer Virgin Galactic (former) |
George Thomas Whitesides was CSO (Chief Space Officer)[1] and was long time CEO of Virgin Galactic,[2] a firm developing commercial space vehicles at the Mojave Air and Space Port. He still serves as a member of the Virgin Galactic Advisory Board.[3] He studied in Newton North High School. Whitesides was previously Chief of Staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a position to which he was named after serving on the NASA transition team for the incoming Obama administration.
Career[]
From 2004 to 2008, Whitesides served as the Executive Director of the National Space Society.[4] He is the co-creator of Yuri's Night.[5]
He has served as Senior Advisor to Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space tourism company.[6]
Whitesides was the Chairman of the Reusable Launch Vehicle Working Group of COMSTAC, the advisory committee for the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Division. He was a board member of Astronomers Without Borders and the .
He has served as a coach for Zero Gravity Corporation's parabolic flight service.
Whitesides announced he will be leaving Virgin Galactic to pursue public service, but will still be in an advisory position to the publicly traded company.[7]
Early life and education[]
George Whitesides attended Princeton University, graduating from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He served for four years on Princeton's Board of Trustees upon graduation. He has an MPhil in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing from King's College, Cambridge. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Tunisia.
Personal life[]
George is married to Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides. His father is George M. Whitesides, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University.
References[]
- ^ "Virgin Galactic changing CEOs, bringing on Disney's Michael Colglazier". cnbc.com. July 15, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- ^ "Virgin Galactic Snags NASA Chief of Staff as CEO". socalTECH.com. May 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "Whitesides steps down from Virgin Galactic". Spacenews. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
- ^ "George Whitesides". National Space Society. May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- ^ Hidalgo-Whitesides, Loretta; Whitesides, G. "About : what is yuri's night?". Yuri's Night. Archived from the original on 2008-04-13. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- ^ Galactic, Virgin (21 June 2007). "Virgin Galactic Appoints George Whitesides as Senior Advisor". NASASpaceflight. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (March 5, 2021). "Whitesides steps down from Virgin Galactic". Space News. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
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