Dawn M. Schaible

Dawn M. Schaible is the director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. She oversees a staff of more than 2,500 civil servants and support service contractors and an annual budget of approximately $900 million.  

In her previous role as Glenn’s deputy director, Schaible shared responsibility with the center director for planning, organizing, and managing the agency-level programs and projects assigned to the center.  

From mid-July 2024 through late February 2025, Schaible served as acting director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where she led the center’s work to advance aviation, Earth science, technology development, and space exploration. 

Before becoming Glenn’s deputy director, Schaible served as director of NASA Langley’s Research Engineering Directorate, which provides advanced technology and flight system development in support of the center’s goals. Prior to that, Schaible was appointed as the NASA deputy chief engineer in July 2014. In this role, she helped lead the Office of the Chief Engineer in providing policy direction, oversight, and assessment for the NASA engineering and program management communities.     

Schaible previously served as the manager of the Systems Engineering Office for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, which was established in 2003 following the space shuttle Columbia accident. As a founding member, she helped establish the organization and processes to conduct independent assessments of critical, high-risk issues. Schaible began her career with NASA at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1987, where she held a number of lead engineering and management positions for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs.  

Schaible is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Bradley University, a master’s degree in space systems operations from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree in engineering and management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.