Dr. Joel R. Carney

Dr. Joel R. Carney is the assistant administrator for NASA’s Office of Strategic Infrastructure (OSI). He provides leadership for the OSI enterprise within the Mission Support Directorate (MSD) and ensures agility, strategy, and readiness in supporting NASA’s complex and evolving missions.  

OSI extends across NASA’s centers to effectively manage the agency’s broad portfolio of infrastructure and capabilities, including more than 5,000 facilities and assets. The office works to make sure NASA can effectively meet mission requirements while maintaining affordability, efficiency, and sustainability.  

The OSI enterprise includes the Environmental Management Division (EMD), the Facilities and Real Estate Division (FRED), the Logistics Management Division (LMD), and the Space Environment Testing Management Office (SETMO). 

Carney joined NASA in February 2020 as the deputy associate administrator for Mission Support Operations in MSD. His team was dedicated to finding solutions to operational challenges that were critical to mission success. He managed agency responses and documentation in audits, directives and partnerships. He oversaw infrastructure risk, operational transformation, and the development of the Agency Master Plan, which prioritizes NASA facilities based on mission requirements. 

Before joining NASA, Carney was the principal technical manager of the Research Development Test and Evaluation Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD). He led a group of 300 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff directed to provide near- and far-term science and technology solutions to the Navy and the Department of Defense. Carney joined NSWC IHD in 2002 as a research scientist, where he led efforts to apply high-speed optical diagnostics to combustion and detonation events. His team developed techniques that advanced understanding of enhanced blast explosives, reactive materials, and combustion applications to help combat weapons of mass destruction. 

Carney earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Albion College and received his doctorate in physical chemistry from Purdue University. He also worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory.