William H. Harrison
Chief, Business Management Office, Research and Technology Mission Directorate
William Harrison is responsible for leading the analysis and management of resources needed to successfully implement the strategic technical goals set within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD). He supports the RTMD deputy associate administrator by reviewing and recommending portfolio investments that ensure proper scope, relevance, capability, risk level, and partnership contributions for program planning and execution.
Prio to his current role, Harrison was the director of the Portfolio Analysis and Management Office in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). Before taking that position, Harrison served as acting director of ARMD’s Resource Management Office (RMO), where he was responsible for employee development, budget formulation and execution, as well as initiation of the resource/portfolio alignment process begun following completion of the ARMD’s Strategic Implementation Plan. His earlier positions within NASA also included deputy director, senior program analyst, and a program analyst within the RMO.
Before joining NASA in 2004, Harrison was a program analyst at the Department of State Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, where he managed a major technical security services contract, including recommending and achieving a drastic change in billing practices between the government and its prime contractor. He held additional positions in budget and finance at US Airways where he was instrumental in starting up a new airline, Potomac Air. He also worked as a project engineer at Pratt and Whitney and as a business advisor with the Peace Corps.
Harrison has received several performance awards while at NASA, and several exemplary performance awards for budget and contract administration from the Department of State. He also represented ARMD at budget briefings to Congressional staff, and the Office of Management and Budget.
Harrison received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree in finance from Cornell University.
