Colonel William A. Phillips

George Thomas Whitesides (born March 3, 1974)[1] is an American businessman and public official. He was CSO (Chief Space Officer)[2] and long time CEO of Virgin Galactic,[3] 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.[4] Whitesides was previously Chief of Staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Administrator Charles Bolden,[5] a position to which he was named after serving on the NASA transition team for the incoming Obama administration.[6] On February 22, 2023, he announced his candidacy for California's 27th congressional district in the 2024 election.

Early life and education

Whitesides studied in Newton North High School, graduating in 1992.[7] Afterward, he attended Princeton University, graduating from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1996.[1][8] He served for four years on Princeton's Board of Trustees upon graduation.[6] He later earned an MPhil in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing from King's College, Cambridge.[5] He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Tunisia.[1][9]

Career

Whitesides speaking at the World Economic Forum in 2017

From 2004 to 2008, Whitesides served as the Executive Director of the National Space Society.[10] He is the co-creator of Yuri's Night, alongside his wife Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides.[11][1] In 2007, Whitesides was named Senior Advisor to Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space tourism company.[12]

Whitesides worked on the presidential transition of Barack Obama.[13] After Obama took office, Whitesides was appointed as chief of staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he served until May 7, 2010.[1][6] Upon his departure, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the agency's highest award.[9][14]

After leaving NASA, Whitesides returned to Virgin Galactic, where he became the first person in the company to hold the CEO title and later its first CSO.[1]

Whitesides was the Chairman of the Reusable Launch Vehicle Working Group of COMSTAC, the advisory committee for the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Division.[1] He was also a board member of Astronomers Without Borders and the Space Generation Foundation.[6][5]

In March 2021, Whitesides announced he would be leaving Virgin Galactic to pursue public service, but would still be in an advisory position to the publicly traded company.[15]

He has also served as a coach for Zero Gravity Corporation's parabolic flight service. In July 2021, as co-founder and project lead of the SciAccess Initiative's Mission: AstroAccess, opened applications for people with disabilities to partake in a ZERO-G parabolic flight, which was initially scheduled on October 17, 2021 in Long Beach, California.[16] Over a year later, on December 15, 2022, its first formal research parabolic flight was flown, with 14 disability ambassadors from 5 countries in the mission.[17]

2024 U.S. House campaign

On February 22, 2023, Whitesides announced he was running for California's 27th congressional district in the 2024 election as a Democrat.[18]

Personal life

George is married to Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, and they have two children.[1][5] His father is George M. Whitesides, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Walz, Kent (May 18, 2019). "Face to Face with George T. Whitesides: Reaching for the stars". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Virgin Galactic changing CEOs, bringing on Disney's Michael Colglazier". CNBC. July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  3. ^ "Virgin Galactic Snags NASA Chief of Staff as CEO". socalTECH.com. May 17, 2010. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  4. ^ "Whitesides steps down from Virgin Galactic". Spacenews. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Dugdale, Addy (May 29, 2010). "Crib Sheet: George T. Whitesides, Top Dog (in Space) at Virgin Galactic". Fast Company. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "George T. Whitesides, NASA's Chief of Staff". NASA. May 1, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  7. ^ Abrams, Meredith (March 25, 2011). "Virgin Galactic CEO presents information on space tourism". The Newtonite. pp. 6–7. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Issuu.
  8. ^ Daugherty, Elisabeth H. (July 20, 2021). "July 20: George Whitesides '96 Brings People With Disabilities Into Space". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University Press. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Kane, Frank (December 27, 2018). "INTERVIEW: 'I have always dreamed of going into space' — George Whitesides, CEO Virgin Galactic". Arab News. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  10. ^ "George Whitesides". National Space Society. May 16, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  11. ^ Hidalgo-Whitesides, Loretta; Whitesides, G. "About : what is yuri's night?". Yuri's Night. Archived from the original on April 13, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  12. ^ Galactic, Virgin (June 21, 2007). "Virgin Galactic Appoints George Whitesides as Senior Advisor". NASASpaceflight. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  13. ^ "George Whitesides". Space For Humanity. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  14. ^ "Historical Awards Recipient List" (PDF). NASA. c. 2015. p. 233. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  15. ^ Foust, Jeff (March 5, 2021). "Whitesides steps down from Virgin Galactic". Space News. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "AstroAccess opens applications to disabled crew participants for space training on zero gravity flight". SpaceDaily. July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  17. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (December 20, 2022). "Zero-G flight for disability ambassadors shows space is accessible for all". Space.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  18. ^ "Former Virgin Galactic CEO enters US House race north of LA". Associated Press News. February 22, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_T._Whitesides