Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs<br />Headquarters, Washington Dec. 13, 2004<br />(Phone: 202/358-1898/1600)<br /><br />RELEASE: 04-400<br /><br />NASA ADMINISTRATOR SEAN O'KEEFE RESIGNS<br /><br /> Administrator Sean O'Keefe, who over the past three<br />years led the National Aeronautics and Space Administration<br />through an aggressive and comprehensive management<br />transformation and helped the agency through one of its most<br />painful tragedies, resigned today.<br /><br />In his resignation letter to the President the Administrator<br />wrote, "I will continue until you have named a successor and<br />in the hope the Senate will act on your nomination by<br />February."<br /><br />"I've been honored to serve this President, the American<br />people and my talented colleagues here at NASA," said<br />Administrator O'Keefe. "Together, we've enjoyed<br />unprecedented success and seen each other through arduous<br />circumstances. This was the most difficult decision I've<br />ever made, but it's one I felt was best for my family and<br />our future."<br /><br />O'Keefe, 48, is NASA's tenth administrator. Nominated by<br />President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate,<br />he was sworn into office Dec. 21, 2001. It was the<br />Administrator's fourth Presidential appointment.<br /><br />After joining NASA, Administrator O'Keefe focused his<br />efforts on successfully bringing financial credibility to<br />the agency and eliminating a $5 billion budget shortfall for<br />the International Space Station program. He introduced a<br />number of innovative management and budget reforms. He led<br />all federal agencies in the implementation of the<br />President's Management Agenda, which is designed to make<br />government more responsive and efficient. In three of the<br />original five categories on the Agenda, NASA's performance<br />is at the highest standard.<br /><br />The tragic loss of seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle<br />Columbia as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere during STS-<br />107 on Feb. 1, 2003, focused the nation's attention on the<br />future of America's space program.<br /><br />Administrator O'Keefe directed significant changes in the<br />Space Shuttle's safety and management programs. He was a key<br />architect of the President's new Vision for Space<br />Exploration, announced in January during a historic speech<br />at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<br /><br />The new Vision for Space Exploration led a transformation of<br />NASA and has positioned the agency to meet the challenges of<br />safely returning the Space Shuttle to flight, completing the<br />International Space Station, exploring the complexities of<br />our home planet, and going back to the moon, on to Mars and<br />beyond.<br /><br />"The President and Congress have demonstrated their faith in<br />us. We need to seize this opportunity," added Administrator<br />O'Keefe. "NASA has a new direction that will push the<br />boundaries of technology, science, space flight and<br />knowledge, and will inspire new generations of explorers for<br />years to come and secure this great nation's future."<br /><br />Encouraging students to study mathematics, science and<br />technology has been a priority for the Administrator. In<br />April 2002, he unveiled a new Educator Astronaut Program, in<br />which a select few of the most outstanding teachers would be<br />chosen to join NASA's Astronaut Corps. The new Educator<br />Astronaut candidates were introduced in May on Space Day and<br />are in training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.<br /><br />During his tenure, Administrator O'Keefe realized a number<br />of significant mission triumphs, including Cassini's<br />exploration of Saturn and its moons, the recent successful<br />hypersonic test flights of the X-43A and the historic<br />landing of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and<br />Opportunity on the Red Planet in January.<br /><br />"NASA is the only agency in the world where its people are<br />allowed to dream big and then work to make those dreams come<br />true. Who wouldn't treasure the opportunity to be a part of<br />pioneering history?" added the Administrator. "I'm humbled<br />by the dedication and determination of the NASA Family and<br />their commitment to the future of exploration. I wish each<br />of them the very best. I am confident in their ability to<br />carry out what we've started," Administrator O'Keefe<br />concluded.<br /><br />Administrator O'Keefe first joined the Bush Administration<br />as the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and<br />Budget, overseeing the preparation, management and<br />administration of the Federal budget and government wide-<br />management initiatives.<br /><br />"The extraordinary opportunities you have permitted me to<br />assume these last four years have been experiences of a<br />lifetime," the Administrator wrote in his resignation<br />letter. "In the most challenging moments during my service I<br />have drawn considerable strength, resolve and determination<br />to do what's right by the standards you set every day."<br /><br />From 1989 to 1992, Administrator O'Keefe served as<br />Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer of the Department of<br />Defense. President George H. Bush appointed him as the<br />Secretary of the Navy in July 1992.<br /><br />Before joining then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney's Pentagon<br />management team, he served on the United States Senate<br />Committee on Appropriations staff for eight years, and was<br />Staff Director of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.<br /><br />His public service began in 1978 when he was selected as a<br />Presidential Management Intern.<br /><br />Administrator O'Keefe is a Fellow of the National Academy of<br />Public Administration; a member of the Committee on Climate<br />Change Science and Technology; and a Fellow of the<br />International Academy of Astronautics.<br /><br />During his academic postings, he was a Visiting Scholar at<br />the Wolfson College of the University of Cambridge, England;<br />a member of the Naval Postgraduate School's civil-military<br />relations seminar team; and conducted seminars for the<br />Strategic Studies Group at Oxford University.<br /><br />Administrator O'Keefe served on the national security panel<br />to devise the 1988 Republican platform and was a member of<br />the 1985 Kennedy School of Government program for national<br />security executives at Harvard University.<br /><br />In 1993, President Bush and Secretary Cheney presented him<br />the Distinguished Public Service Award. He was the 1999<br />faculty recipient of the Syracuse University Chancellor's<br />Award for Public Service; recipient of the Department of the<br />Navy's Public Service Award in December 2000; and has been<br />awarded honorary doctorate degrees from several prestigious<br />educational institutions. In March 2003 and 2004, he was<br />recognized and honored by the Irish American Magazine as one<br />of the Top 100 Irish Americans.<br /><br />He is the author of several journal articles and<br />contributing author of "Keeping the Edge: Managing Defense<br />for the Future," released in October 2000. In 1998 he co-<br />authored "The Defense Industry in the Post-Cold War Era:<br />Corporate Strategies and Public Policy Perspectives."<br /><br />Administrator O'Keefe earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1977<br />from Loyola University in New Orleans and his Master of<br />Public Administration degree in 1978 from The Maxwell School<br />of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University,<br />N.Y.<br /><br />For more additional information about Administrator O'Keefe<br />and NASA, visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov