Lesa B. Roe is an American

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

and Former Acting Deputy Administrator of NASA. She served as the Chancellor of the

University of North Texas System The University of North Texas System is a public university system headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is the administrative overseer of three otherwise autonomous Texas institutions of higher learning: the University of North Texas, a research in ...

from 2017 to 2021. Most recently Solid Power Inc. named Lesa Roe to its board of directors. Solid Power develops solid-state rechargeable battery products for government and commercial markets, including aerospace and electric vehicles.

Biography

She received her bachelor's degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, and her master's degree in electrical engineering from the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. Roe served as chancellor of the University of North Texas from 2017 to 2021. Prior to becoming chancellor, Roe served as the Acting Deputy Administrator of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

from January 20, 2017, to September 30, 2017, and was the Deputy Associate Administrator from May 1, 2014, to September 30, 2017. Roe has also served as the Director of

Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. LaRC has focused primarily on aeronautical research but has also ...

from 2005 to 2014, the first woman to hold that position. She previously served as the center's Deputy Director from June 2004 until being named Director in October 2005. Roe in totality served 32 years at NASA, managed the employment of over 17,000 employees with a budget of 19.6 billion.

Awards

Roe has received many awards, including the

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, a ...

and YWCA Women of Distinction in Space and Technology honor.

References

Living people University of Florida College of Engineering alumni University of Central Florida alumni Center Directors of NASA Langley Research Center Year of birth missing (living people) George W. Bush administration personnel First Trump administration personnel Obama administration personnel Women aerospace engineers {{NASA-stub