Katherine Van Hooser

Katherine P. Van Hooser has served as NASA Deputy Chief Engineer since October 2023. In this role, she, with the NASA Chief Engineer, is responsible for the technical readiness of all NASA programs, executes Engineering Technical Authority, and leads the Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE) at NASA Headquarters.

Appointed to the Senior Executive Service in April 2016 as Chief Engineer of Marshall Space Flight Center, Van Hooser was responsible for technical leadership of MSFC programs.

From 2015-2016, Van Hooser was Materials & Processes Laboratory Deputy Director, overseeing and managing an annual budget of approximately $54M and leading a combined workforce of more than 250 civil servants and contractors engaged in science, technology, and engineering for materials and processes for use in space vehicles and related applications.

Van Hooser served from 2013-2015 as Acting Associate Director of Engineering for Technical Management, where she assisted in the leadership of an organization of approximately 2,600 civil servants and contractors and served as a member of the overall Engineering strategic planning staff.

From 2005 to 2013, Van Hooser held a variety of positions in the MSFC Chief Engineers Office. She was Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Assistant Chief Engineer and SSME Chief Engineer, leading a multi-disciplined group of engineers and other professional and support personnel through the last 21 Space Shuttle flights. She then became the first Chief Engineer for the Liquid Engines Element of the Space Launch System (SLS) Program, responsible for the engineering activities, technical excellence, and success of the design and adaptation of the J-2X and RS-25 engines. She served on a detail assignment as Deputy Chief Engineer for the SLS Program.

Van Hooser joined NASA in 1991 and for 14 years, she served as engineer, Team Lead, and then Branch Chief in Turbomachinery, responsible for managing the design, development, testing, evaluation, certification, production, and flight of liquid rocket engine turbomachinery for use in space vehicle applications.

Van Hooser has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal, a Silver Snoopy Award, and NASA’s Software of the Year Award. She has authored multiple technical papers and was inducted into the University of Tennessee Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering Hall of Fame in 2018.