Donald James

Donald James began his 35-year NASA career at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as a Presidential Management Intern. In 1984, he transferred to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Northern California, serving in various positions of increasing responsibility in Public Affairs, Government Relations, and Education. 

During his career, Donald co-led the 1997 Ames’ open house, attracting a record-breaking quarter-million visitors; served as Ames’ Education Director from 1999 to 2006; developed the first project plan for NASA’s Orion spacecraft in 2006 at the Johnson Space Center and led NASA’s bid to host the International Space University’s 2009 Summer Program. 

Donald entered the Senior Executive Service in 2014.  In July 2014, NASA  Administrator Charles Bolden selected Donald as Associate Administrator for Education, where he led an Agency-wide effort to leverage NASA’s unique capabilities to advance high-quality STEM Education, through the National Space Grant Program, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the Minority University Research and Education Program, and the STEM Education and Accountability Program James retired in March 2017. 

Most recently he has written along with his brother Dennis, Manners Will Take You Where Brains and Money Won't.  The book merges lessons he learned while at NASA with the timeless wisdom from his mother aka Momma, to help students and early-career professionals navigate their future.