NASA has named Steve Miley the associate director of their Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Marshall, one of NASA’s largest field installations, has almost 6,000 civil service and contract personnel, an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion, 4.5 million square feet of infrastructure and a broad spectrum of human spaceflight, science and technology development.
As associate director, Miley will manage and lead development of business operations, guide daily business decisions and oversee Marshall’s operational policy and processes. In addition, he will serve as a senior adviser in advancing the direction of the center’s future.
“With three decades of government acquisition and management experience, Steve is well prepared for his new position on the center’s senior leadership team,” said Marshall Center Director Todd May. “The leadership skills he has displayed while working with NASA Headquarters, other NASA field centers, the U.S. Air Force, government agencies and partners has been, and will continue to be, invaluable to Marshall and the nation’s space exploration efforts.”
Professional background
The Dayton, Ohio, native most recently served as director of Marshall’s Office of Procurement. Named to the position in December 2015, he managed the organization responsible for all aspects of the contracting and procurement processes at Marshall, NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and associated contractor facilities.
In 2014, Miley began a second stint as the associate director for operations in Marshall’s Engineering Directorate. He also held that post from 2007 to 2011. From 2011 to 2014, he was at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, as director of contracting for the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the organization responsible for total lifecycle management of Air Force weapon systems. He led 13 acquisition directorates at three military sites, overseeing more than 2,000 contracting professionals, and guided more than $31 billion in annual obligations for 10 program offices with an active contract value of more than $196 billion.
In 2006, Miley was appointed to the Senior Executive Service at NASA Headquarters in Washington, where he supervised the agency’s key technical capability portfolios as director of the Strategic Capabilities Assets Division. The Senior Executive Service is the personnel system that covers most of the top managerial, supervisory and policy positions in the executive branch of the federal government.
Miley began his career in 1988 as a contract negotiator at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, supporting key military aviation and missile programs. After graduating from the Air Force contracting intern program in 1992, he transferred to NASA Headquarters in Washington as a contracting officer and procurement analyst. He was a contract negotiator for the NASA-Russian Space Agency contract for American support and use of Space Station Mir. In 1995, he transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, as a contracting officer and business team leader in the International Space Station Program Office. He returned to NASA Headquarters from 1998 to 2007 to take on a variety of positions, including manager of the Sponsored Research Business Office and acting assistant associate administrator for infrastructure management in NASA’s Office of Space Flight.
He earned a master’s degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., in 1986, a master’s degree in business administration from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, in 1992, and a bachelor’s degree from Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky., in 1983. He also received the Professional Designation in Contract Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the Certified Professional Contracts Manager designation from the National Contract Management Association, headquartered in Ashburn, Va., in 1992.
A 21-year Air Force reserve officer, Miley received his commission through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2008.
He and his wife Dana live in Huntsville.
