Dr. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro

With almost two decades of experience in government, in both NASA missions and policy, Dr. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro leads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s space, aeronautics, and manufacturing portfolios. As the Assistant Director for Space Policy, her policy work includes In-space Servicing Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM), Earth Observations, Orbital Debris, Microgravity research in Low Earth Orbit, Space Weather, Aeronautics, and space science.

Dr. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro is a prominent leader in the field of ISAM. She led the creation of and holds a key position in determining ISAM policy at the national level and serves as Chair of the ISAM Interagency Working Group. Under her leadership, this working group developed the National ISAM Strategy and the National ISAM Implementation Plan in 2022. These strategic documents set the course for advancing America’s ISAM capabilities.

Her NASA 17-year engineering career spanned contributions to Earth Observations, planetary science, heliophysics, astrophysics, human exploration, and space communications missions. She earned an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and three masters degrees in Aerospace Systems, Space Robotics, and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, MIT, and Harvard University respectively. She also earned a doctorate degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. She has received several NASA awards and the 2023 Commercial Space Federation Commercial Space Policy award. Her story is profiled in President George W. Bush’s book, ‘Out of Many, One’.