John W. Bailey, Jr.

John W. Bailey, Jr. is the Associate Administrator for the Mission Support Directorate (MSD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, serving in this capacity since May 2026.

Prior to joining MSD, Bailey served on a detailed assignment as a Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator, leading the Agency’s workforce directive initiative from March 2026 to May 2026.

From April 2024 to May 2026, Bailey served as the center director of NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. In this role, he provided executive leadership for NASA’s mission in rocket propulsion testing, and developed and maintained the agency’s world-class test facilities. He also oversaw a unique federal city that is home to more than 50 federal, state, academic, and private organizations, and numerous technology-based companies.

Before becoming center director, Bailey held a succession of key leadership roles at Stennis. As deputy director (and acting center director from January to April 2024), he coordinated the execution of the center’s testing capabilities and daily operations. Earlier, as associate director, he managed the foundational institutional capabilities that supported the federal city and NASA’s broader missions at the site.

Bailey began his career as a communications engineer with the U.S. Air Force and progressed to lead electronic communications testing worldwide. Bringing his leadership expertise to NASA in 1999, Bailey served in various roles, managing and leading technical and non-technical organizations and supervising employees with a wide variety of skills and backgrounds.

Early in his NASA career, his leadership roles included service as manager of Intellectual Property and Dual Use Technology Development; chief of the Technology Development and Transfer Office; chief of the Science and Technology Division; deputy manager of the Office of External Affairs; technical assistant to the director of the Engineering and Test Directorate; and strategic business manager for the Office of the Center Director.

Bailey was selected as deputy director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate in 2015 and advanced to the role of director that same year. In those capacities, he provided leadership and management of critical rocket propulsion test assets exceeding $2 billion in replacement value and managed projects in excess of $221 million. The portfolio included high priority propulsion test projects, an extensive array of technology development projects, and major test complex construction activities, including restoration of the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) to support the historic SLS (Space Launch System) core stage Green Run test for NASA’s Artemis program.

During his career, Bailey has received numerous awards. In 2023, he was one of 14 NASA employees to receive a Presidential Meritorious Award. The award, one of the most prestigious in career civil service, recognizes exceptional leadership, accomplishments, and service over an extended period of time.

Bailey obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of South Alabama in Mobile in 1988. Shortly thereafter, he began his career as a civil servant with the Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. During that time, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Alabama in 1998.

Bailey is a native of Mobile, Alabama and currently resides in Picayune, Mississippi with his wife, Lori. They have three daughters – Victoria, Caroline, and Isabella. Victoria and her husband, Anthony, live in Florida. Caroline lives in Tennessee, where she works as a trauma nurse. Isabella is enrolled in an electrical engineering program in college in Mississippi.