Casey Swails

Casey Swails is NASA’s deputy associate administrator, acting as the agency’s deputy chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $25 billion. She is the deputy and principal advisor to the associate administrator for overall day-to-day operations and long-term strategic direction across NASA’s 10 field centers, mission directorates, and staff organizations. She establishes the overall strategy, framework, and structure for NASA’s integrated mission support portfolio and builds and advances the agency’s industry partnerships.

In addition, she is leading NASA 2040, the agency’s strategic initiative to ensure NASA remains the preeminent institution for research, technology, and engineering to lead science, aeronautics, and space exploration for humanity in the year 2040.

Previously, Swails served as the chief of staff and senior advisor to the associate administrator, as well as the agency’s acting deputy chief of staff during the presidential transition. In those positions, she ensured the effective flow of operations across NASA’s workforce and represented the agency in the alignment of policy, strategy, priorities, and program development.

Prior to joining the administrator’s office at NASA, she led many of the agency’s significant change management initiatives. This included leadership of the largest human capital transformation effort in NASA’s history, resulting in the successful merger of 10 separate human resources offices into one enterprise organization and the realignment of more than 500 human capital employees and corresponding $90 million budget.

Also noteworthy was her leadership in the design and creation of the agencywide Executive Services Division, which manages programs for attracting, retaining, and developing NASA’s executive cadre of more than 600 senior leaders. With more than 19 years at NASA, Swails has had substantial involvement working across multiple NASA centers and with many of the agency’s human spaceflight programs, including the International Space Station Program, Orion, and the early Commercial Crew and Gateway programs, which are recognized as leading models for the agency today.

Swails holds a Bachelor of Science in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University, and she has completed executive education at Harvard Business School and INSEAD. She was recognized as one of Georgia Tech’s 40 Under 40 distinguished alumni and was a fellow in the International Women’s Forum. Her work has garnered several awards, including the Gears of Government Award, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Silver Achievement Medal, the Silver Snoopy Award, and the Johnson Space Center Director’s Innovation Award.