Rick Walker

Contact: richard.a.walker@nasa.gov

Prior to joining the Game Changing Development Program in November 2021, Rick Walker served as the Deputy Director, Center Operations at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Throughout his thirty-one years of service at NASA, Rick has had the opportunity to serve both mission and mission support organizations. Rick has supported numerous scientific and engineering projects including the Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI) project as a Deputy Project Manager and Contracting Officer Representative, the ISS/SpaceX integration manager for the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III), and as the Deputy Project Manager for the Sensor Test for Orion Relative-Navigation Risk Mitigation (STORRM) project. Rick also held key leadership roles within Langley Center Operations, including Deputy Director for Resource Management and the Construction of Facilities Program Manager, as well as serving as the Acting Head, Strategic Workforce Policy, Planning, Analysis and Management Office in the Office of Human Resources.

Rick holds a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University. Rick began his career as a NASA Langley Research Center Engineering Technician Cooperative Education student and is also a graduate of the NASA Langley Research Center Engineering Technician Apprentice Program.

In his spare time, Rick enjoys spending time with his family, his wife Lisa, and his daughters, Lauren and Brooke…typically on a sports field somewhere.