NESDIS Leadership
Mary E. Kicza
Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Mary E. Kicza is the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services. NOAA Satellite and Information Service is dedicated to providing timely access to global environmental data from satellites and other sources to promote, protect, and enhance the Nation's economy, security, environment, and quality of life. In this role, Ms. Kicza leads the acquisition and operation of the Nation's civil operational environmental satellite system. She also leads efforts for research and development of products and programs to archive and provide access to a variety of Earth observations via three national data centers.
Ms. Kicza is a leader in the international Earth observation community, serving as the NOAA Principal to the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and former Chair of the CEOS Strategic Implementation Group. In this capacity, she leads efforts to coordinate global satellite-based observations among international space agency partners to further the development of a Global Earth Observation System of Systems. In addition, Ms. Kicza serves as the Co-Chair of the NOAA Observing Systems Council, a group which coordinates observing systems requirements and provides resource recommendations for NOAA's observation platforms. She is also a member of the NOAA Executive Council, NOAA's executive decision making body.
Before coming to NOAA, Ms. Kicza was the Associate Deputy Administrator for Systems Integration at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As a senior leader within NASA, she was responsible for assuring that the mission and mission support elements were effectively aligned and integrated. She served previously as the Associate Administrator for Biological/Physical Research, the Associate Center Director for Goddard Space Flight Center, the Assistant Associate Administrator for Space Science, and the Deputy Director of the Solar System Exploration Division. Ms. Kicza began her career as an engineer at McClellan Air Force Base in California, before joining NASA in 1982 as a lead engineer supporting the Atlas Centaur and Shuttle Centaur launch vehicles.
Ms. Kicza has served with distinction in a variety of technical, managerial, and leadership posts, supporting the development, launch, and operation of satellite systems as well as multi-faceted research and development programs. She has significant experience in building and maintaining effective relationships with the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Defense Department, Congress, the aerospace industry, and a diverse research community. Ms. Kicza has earned a Presidential Rank Award, two SES Meritorious Service Awards, NASA's Distinguished Service and Scientific
Ms. Kicza received her Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from California State University and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Mark Paese
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services(Acting)
Mark Paese is the Director of the Office of Operational Systems for NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) where he is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of NWS systems.
Mark has 29 years of experience in all facets of weather, communications,and aviation, including 12 years in private industry. He has broad experience in leading science-based service organizations, introducing change, and us ing and implementing technology and science.
Previously, Mark held a senior position in the consulting firm of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and prior to that, was an engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corporation. While in the private sector, he was responsible for systems engineering, operations and maintenance, program management, strategic planning,profit and loss, and business development.
Mark has demonstrated executive leadership and communications by serving as the Executive Director of the White House Task Force on Effective Warnings. His efforts resulted in the President signing the Executive Order 13407: Public Alert and Warning Systems. Mark also served on the FCC's Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee -charged with examining existing and planned disaster warning systems and developing recommendations to ensure effective all-hazards alert and warning systems. In addition, he serves as a member of numerous delegations at international governmental summits and conferences around the world, including the U.S. delegation to World Radiocommunication Conferences and meetings of the World Meteorological Organization.
Mark is a recipient of the 2007 Presidential Rank Award, four Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Awards,and a NOAA Administrator's Award.
Gregory Robinson
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Systems (Acting)
In May 2011, Mr. Robinson began a detail serving as the Acting National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Deputy Assistant Administrator, Systems. He is responsible for the overall policy direction, coordination, and management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) satellite acquisitions, including the ground systems. In this role, he also coordinates NOAA’s system engineering, mission assurance, and acquisition activities with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, other Federal agencies, and the private sector.
Mr. Robinson has 28 years of engineering experience (22 NASA and 6 in private industry). He was appointed NASA Deputy Chief Engineer in November 2005; and was responsible for developing and implementing Engineering Excellence, Engineering Technical Authority, and improving program and project management and systems engineering.
He was previously Deputy Chief Engineer, for Engineering Policy and Requirements. In that role he was the primary liaison with the NASA Centers’ engineering organizations and the 4 Mission Directorates at NASA Headquarters. His Division included Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Lessons Learned, Technical Standards, NASA Engineering Network, and Engineering Capability.
Prior to his assignment to NASA Headquarters in 1999, he spent 11 years in various leadership posts at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. In addition to his many leadership roles, he served as the Systems Assurance Manager for the $1billion Earth Observing System (Aqua) Project, which was launched in 2002; and the Aura spacecraft, launched in 2004. He served in the same capacity on the Global Geospace Science (GGS) project, which included the Wind and Polar spacecrafts, launched in 1994 and 1996 respectively.