Bhavya Lal is a professor of Space Policy at Pardee RAND Graduate School. Most recently, she served as NASA's Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy, and Strategy, advising the NASA administrator and senior leadership on a broad spectrum of domestic and international policy issues, strategic planning, and technology investments. She was also the first woman in NASA’s history to be named Acting Chief Technologist. In the first 100 days of the Biden Administration, she was the highest-ranking administration representative at NASA, also serving as its acting Chief of Staff. At NASA, she was instrumental in advancing the Moon-to-Mars Artemis program and spearheading initiatives in planetary defense, space sustainability, quantum science and engineering, artificial intelligence, space ethics, and space nuclear power.
Before joining NASA, Lal directed influential technology and policy analyses on space science, commercial space, and human exploration at the Institute for Defense Analyses' Science and Technology Policy Institute. Lal holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a master’s from MIT’s Technology and Policy Program, and a Ph.D. in public policy and public administration from George Washington University. She is a member of the honor societies for both nuclear engineering and public policy and public administration. Her accolades include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and induction into the International Academy of Astronautics and the YWCA’s Academy of Women Achievers.
Education
Ph.D. in public policy and public administration, The George Washington University; M.S. in nuclear engineering, MIT; M.S. in technology and policy, MIT; B.S. in nuclear engineering, MIT