Randy Thompson

Randy Thompson is currently acting as the Deputy Director of Structures and Materials in the Research Directorate at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Randy previously served as the Deputy Director for Research and Engineering at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. He was responsible for the tactical execution and strategic leadership of the directorate’s personnel, facilities, and engineering and research portfolio. Previously, he was the Aerostructures Branch Chief where he led the branch in the accomplishment of its airworthiness and research mission, including the management of the Flight Loads Laboratory. 

In 1989, Randy began his engineering career at NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, now NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, as a thermal-structures test engineer contractor in the Aerostructures Branch. In 1994, he and his wife started an English as a second language school in Osaka, Japan. In 1999 he returned to Edwards Air Force 
Base, where he held positions of increasing responsibility with the United States Air Force’s 412 Test Wing, including the Air Vehicle Manager for the F-35A Integrated Test Force, leading a team of approximately 130 people accomplishing high-risk developmental test and evaluation of the F-35A, and was the Structures Lead for the F-22 Combined Test Force. Randy returned to NASA Armstrong as a civil servant in 2014. 

Randy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Pennsylvania 
State University and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California State University — Fresno. Outside of work, he loves spending time outdoors with his wife and family, and volunteering