ACADEMIA

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin named veteran scientist Lisa J. Porter as associate administrator for the Aeronautics Mission Directorate. She will lead the agency's aeronautics research efforts and continue to lead NASA's efforts in the development of national aeronautics policy in cooperation with other government agencies. Porter most recently served as the NASA Administrator's senior adviser for aeronautics. She came to the agency following her service as senior scientist in the Advanced Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va. She created and managed several programs in diverse technical areas ranging from fundamental scientific research to multi-disciplinary systems-level development and integration efforts. Two of her programs focused on developing physics-based predictive design tools that leveraged advanced computational fluid dynamics. The Helicopter Quieting Program focused on developing the capability to design quiet rotor blades that would not negatively impact aircraft performance. The Friction Drag Reduction Program focused on developing the capability to implement friction drag reduction technologies on naval platforms. Porter has a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University, Calif. She was a lecturer and postdoctoral research associate at MIT. She received the Alpha Nu Sigma MIT Student Chapter Outstanding Teaching Award in 1996. She has authored more than 25 publications in a broad range of technical disciplines including nuclear engineering, solar physics, plasma physics, computational materials modeling, explosives detection and vibration control of flexible structures.