NASA appoints Sean Gallagher as permanent chief information officer
Gallagher, who has served in the acting role since January, brings extensive experience from NASA’s Glenn Research Center and previous federal service to the position, effective immediately.
NASA has appointed Sean Gallagher as its permanent chief information officer (CIO), effective immediately. Gallagher, who has served in an acting capacity since January, will now oversee the agency’s entire portfolio of information technology products and services.
The appointment follows a period of transition within the agency’s technology leadership. Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson highlighted Gallagher’s contributions during his acting tenure, stating that his leadership had been instrumental in strengthening NASA’s IT foundation. Anderson noted that Gallagher ensured the workforce had secure, modern tools necessary to enable groundbreaking missions on a daily basis.
In his new role, Gallagher will continue to advance the agency’s technology capabilities to support discovery, innovation, and mission success across all NASA operations. The Office of the CIO provides critical services to tens of thousands of end users located in the United States and abroad. This infrastructure supports NASA missions by enabling discoveries, facilitating faster data sharing, and increasing workforce productivity.
Prior to this appointment, Gallagher served as the deputy chief information officer for Operations and as a senior advisor for Transformation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In these capacities, he worked with all NASA centres to implement efficient and effective IT operating models. Before joining the headquarters team, he was the CIO of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where he led IT initiatives for aeronautics, space, research, engineering, and test missions.
Gallagher joined NASA in 2012 as the deputy CIO at Glenn. His professional background also includes service as a Signal Corps officer in the United States Army, where he held roles as a platoon leader, human resource manager, and network engineer. He previously worked as a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting federal, defence, and commercial customers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from John Carroll University and a master’s degree in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix.
