Biography of Paul H. Geithner -- NASA Astronomer

Mr. Geithner is currently a program executive working at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. His responsibilities include oversight of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission and the Beyond Einstein program. Paul grew up in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas, and since childhood he has had a keen interest in space exploration and astronomy. Mr. Geithner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1984 from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia's Darden School in 1991. Paul's career at NASA began in 1991 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center when he was hired to work on repair and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope. Specifically, he worked on development of the original corrective optics for Hubble, as well as repair of its gyroscopes and development of the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) instrument currently operating on-board Hubble. Later, Mr. Geithner worked on the Next Generation Space Telescope (subsequently renamed the James Webb Space Telescope) as the chief systems engineer and instrument systems manager at NASA-Goddard, before working on it again as the mission.s program executive from NASA Headquarters. Paul's other professional experience includes nearly five years active duty as an officer in the U.S. Air Force after graduation from Virginia Tech involving development of new spacecraft technologies as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, a brief stint as a Vice President at credit card bank FirstUSA, and about two years as a project manager at a start-up company developing advanced undersea fiber optic cable communications systems.