On December 15, 2015, NASA’s Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Program Director Gregory Blaney received the Meritorious Executive, Presidential Rank Award, one of only 11 NASA recipients in 2015. The award is the second highest level of recognition for Senior Executive Service employees in the federal government. This accomplishment earned Blaney a visit to the White House where he was presented the award in honor of his service.
Former astronaut and NASA’s current Chief of Safety & Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters, Terry Wilcutt, congratulated Blaney stating, “Greg was recognized for 26 years of federal and five years of contract support of NASA. His leadership of the IV&V Program was of particular importance.” Over the last five years under Blaney’s direction, the IV&V Program has continued its support of mission critical software on NASA’s most important missions. Wilcutt continued by saying, “IV&V has discovered and ensured resolution of issues that posed significant risk to missions. IV&V has made tremendous innovations, including software simulations in the JSTAR [Jon McBride Software Testing and Research] lab and advancement of cyber security and information assurance capabilities. IV&V continues to be a world leader in the field and has been benchmarked by the GAO [Government Accountability Office] as a standard for other agencies.” Wilcutt concluded with gratitude saying, “I want to thank Greg for his service to NASA and leadership of the IV&V Program.”
A Morgantown-born West Virginia native, Blaney has contributed a total of 31 years of support to the federal government and NASA. Since his arrival at the IV&V Program, he has held many positions within the program, including his current position as director, to which he was selected in December of 2010. He is responsible for the leadership and technical direction for this agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software. Blaney thankfully accepted the award stating, “I am extremely honored to accept this award because it represents the hard work and dedication of those that serve the IV&V Program. I am blessed to have many great leaders in my life to follow and to have great people to work with in the IV&V Program.”
For more information about NASA’s IV&V Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv/home/index.html
-end-
Jennifer Neptune
Independent Verification and Validation Program, Fairmont, W.Va.
304-367-8262
jennifer.d.neptune@nasa.gov